Teachers union lists 163 children, teens killed in Iran protest crackdown

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that fears of a further escalation in the conflict with Iran dominated his talks during a visit to the Persian Gulf region.

Speaking at a press conference in Doha, Merz said concerns about rising tensions with Iran was raised repeatedly in meetings over the past two days.

“In all my conversations yesterday and today, great concern has been expressed about a further escalation in the conflict with Iran,” he said.

Merz called on Iran to end aggression and to move toward negotiations, stressing that Berlin would work to lower tensions.

China supports Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and opposes the use of force and sanctions pressure, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.

“China supports Iran’s legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said during talks in Beijing with Iran’s deputy foreign minister, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Liu said China would continue to promote what he described as the proper resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they seized two vessels involved in fuel smuggling in the Persian Gulf near Farsi Island.

The navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it discovered more than one million litters of smuggled fuel on board the two vessels and detained 15 foreign crew members, who were handed over to judicial authorities.

The vessels were operating near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, the Guards said in a statement carried by state media.

The Guards said the vessels were part of an organized network that had carried out fuel smuggling operations over recent months and were identified through surveillance and intelligence work before being seized.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Ankara was doing its utmost to prevent tensions between the United States and Iran from dragging the region into a new conflict.

Speaking to reporters on a return flight from Egypt, Erdogan said diplomacy remained possible and negotiations at lower levels could pave the way for leader-level talks if progress was made.

He added that both the United States and Iran wanted to open a path for diplomacy, describing that approach as positive.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had held intensive contacts with officials from Qatar, Oman and Iran, as well as US special envoy Steve Witkoff, to push efforts to de-escalate regional tensions.

According to the statement, Abdelatty held calls separately with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The discussions focused on reducing escalation in the region and developments related to a planned meeting between the United States and Iran in Oman, the ministry said.

Egypt will continue its diplomatic efforts with regional partners and both the US and Iran to advance political solutions, the ministry added.