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Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres at 19:30 on Monday.
The meeting comes a week after President Masoud Pezeshkian met Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Britain imposed 71 additional designations under its Iran nuclear sanctions regime. The move expands existing measures targeting individuals and entities linked to Tehran’s nuclear activities.
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) has awarded its highest honor, the William Bowie Medal, to Iranian-American scientist Soroosh Sorooshian for 2025.
The award, established more than 85 years ago, is the AGU’s most prestigious distinction, given annually to a researcher for outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and for unselfish cooperation in science.
The AGU cited Sorooshian’s “exceptional contributions to water science and practice, and vision in developing a global precipitation product serving millions of people worldwide.”
Sorooshian, 76, is a distinguished professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, and director of the university’s Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing.
Born in Kerman, Iran, he moved to the United States in 1966 and earned his PhD at UCLA.
Kaveh Madani, head of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, congratulated Sorooshian in a social media post, calling him “the first Iranian to receive the William Bowie Medal” and praising his decades of support for younger researchers.
The AGU, founded in 1919, is the world’s largest Earth and space science society with more than 62,000 members from 144 countries. Its annual prizes are announced in September and presented at the December meeting attended by over 25,000 participants.
The hydrologist has previously received the Robert E. Horton Medal, NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the UNESCO Great Man-Made River Water Prize. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and several international scientific academies.
The recent 12-day conflict was a mix of missile, aerial, and ground battles that began with US approval and ended with Washington’s direct involvement, said Revolutionary Guards spokesman Ali-Mohammad Naeini.
“The enemy, even with advanced air defense and air force technology, could not withstand the power and resilience of the Islamic Republic,” Naeini said Monday.
The confrontation highlighted Iran’s endurance against external pressure, he added.
Iran’s anti-narcotics authority warned on Monday that poppy cultivation would face severe punishment, including fines, prison and land confiscation for repeat offenders.
Tarahomi, head of legal affairs at the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters, told state media that speculation about legalizing poppy cultivation was misplaced. “What is under consideration is licensing controlled cultivation of certain poppy species such as Papaver bracteatum -- also known as the Iranian poppy -- for medical use, not opium poppy,” he said.
He explained that Iran had voluntarily halted poppy farming after the 1979 revolution, meeting pharmaceutical needs through seizures and imports. But declining production in Afghanistan has forced Tehran to consider limited licensed cultivation for morphine and related medicines under international conventions.
Tarahomi said licensed crops would be grown only on enclosed land with state purchase and factory processing, leaving no possibility of diversion. By contrast, he warned, illegal growers would face escalating penalties: “The first time a fine, the second time a fine and prison, and from the third time onward, fine, prison and confiscation of agricultural land.”
Officials have previously reported a sharp fall in opium seizures and rising concerns over illegal cultivation in some provinces, with authorities destroying thousands of hectares of illicit fields.
