Iran says it's prepared for countermeasures if censured by IAEA board

Iran and the United States are facing a deepening deadlock in nuclear negotiations, increasing the risk of military conflict, senior analyst Morad Vaisi wrote Sunday in a piece for Iran International.

Vaisi outlined ten key developments that have “darkened the prospects of reaching an agreement and made war more realistic.” He pointed to intensified rhetoric between leaders, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling Iran’s enrichment program “none of their business,” and Donald Trump responding that Iran would “never be allowed to enrich uranium.”

Vaisi wrote that no new rounds have taken place since the fifth session in Rome, describing the halt as “a clear indication of a sharp decline in the trajectory of the talks.”

Although the US briefly paused the imposition of new sanctions through a directive, it quickly reimposed them after Khamenei’s remarks, targeting financial networks tied to Iran.

Trump’s appointment of Admiral Brad Cooper as CENTCOM commander also signaled heightened readiness, Vaisi wrote, citing his experience within the region.

Vaisi added that growing European pressure on Israel over the Gaza conflict may push the Jewish state to shift the focus by escalating tensions with Iran, especially as Israeli officials warn that future opportunities to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities may be limited.

“The last hope to avoid a military confrontation,” he wrote, “may rest on a possible visit by Vladimir Putin to Tehran.”

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Former British army commander Richard Kemp has urged US President Donald Trump to take immediate military action against Iran, warning that diplomacy will only serve to delay the inevitable.

In an article published by The Telegraph on Sunday, Kemp argued that Tehran is using negotiations to buy time. “Iran will do everything it can to spin out talks with the US, doing its best to lead the negotiators along while manipulating Europeans to throw a lifeline,” he wrote.

Kemp said Iran is rebuilding its military capabilities, including replacing Russian-supplied air defenses damaged in Israeli strikes last October, and is further hardening and dispersing its nuclear facilities. He argued that Tehran has repeatedly violated both the 2015 nuclear deal and its commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

“Even if a deal is agreed, it won’t be worth the paper it’s written on,” Kemp wrote. “Whatever obfuscation it comes up with, Iran will not voluntarily surrender its nuclear weapons program.”

He called on Washington to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a green light to act against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and to provide full support.

The ban has now spread to at least 25 cities, including Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamadan, Kerman, Boroujerd, Robat Karim, Lavasanat, and Golestan, according to a report by Tehran-based reformist-leaning outlet Faraz News on Sunday.

While no national legislation has been passed, judicial authorities are enforcing the ban through local directives and police orders, citing various articles of Iran’s Penal Code and Constitution.

These include Article 638 on public morality, Article 688 on threats to public health, and Article 40 of the Constitution, which prohibits harm to others.

Several prosecutors across various provinces announced the new bans over the weekend.

Kashmar, a city in northeastern Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province, is among the latest to implement the ban.

“Dog walking has been prohibited in this county in order to safeguard public hygiene and the physical and psychological safety of the public,” the city’s public prosecutor said on Sunday.

Khalkhal’s public prosecutor Mozaffar Rezaei in northwest Iran’s Ardabil province announced the ban came into effect on June 6. “Offenders will face consequences if they are seen walking dogs in parks, public spaces, or carrying them on their vehicles,” Rezaei said in remarks to Islamic Republic News Agency (ILNA) published Sunday.

"In addition to the financial and physical damages, religious rulings and cultural considerations must be taken into account, as this practice reflects the promotion of a Western lifestyle," he added.

In Ilam, western Iran, authorities imposed a dog walking ban on Saturday, warning that anyone seen walking dogs in parks, public areas, or transporting them in vehicles would face legal action. Police have also been instructed to impound vehicles involved in violations, according to provincial judicial chief Omran Ali Mohammadi.

In Isfahan, central Iran, the ban was announced last week by Mohammad Mousavian, the city’s public prosecutor who also ordered police to impound vehicles carrying dogs and shut down pet shops and unauthorized veterinary clinics.

A group of animal rights activists gathered outside the governor’s office in Isfahan on Sunday, calling for an end to what they described as municipal dog culling.

A former head of Iran’s parliamentary national security committee said on Sunday that the sixth round of nuclear negotiations will not be the last if a partial agreement is reached.

“If an interim agreement is achieved, the sixth round won’t be the final one,” Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh told Eghtesad Online. Without this, he warned, “failure is certain and definitive.”

“The United States seeks a comprehensive plan to contain Iran, starting with the nuclear issue,” he added.

Former Deputy National Security advisor Victoria Coates says a possible nuclear-armed Iran would pose a direct threat to the United States, pointing to decades of hostile rhetoric and attacks attributed to Tehran.

“Iran has been chanting ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel’ for almost 50 years now, and the Supreme Leader has said that that's not just a slogan, that's a policy,” she added. “He is responsible for the deaths of Americans in Beirut, in Iraq, in Latin America.”

Coates highlighted Iran’s investments in long-range missile capabilities and warned of potential nuclear terrorism through allied groups.

“They've been willing to pour resources into developing a delivery mechanism in the form of an intercontinental ballistic missile,” she said. “They could provide it to a terrorist proxy… What if Hamas had had a backpack bomb on October 7th?”