Six Arab states demand compensation from Iran - BNA

Iran’s first vice president Mohammadreza Aref said on Thursday the government does not blame elites for leaving the country, but will support them if they decide to return.

His remarks came one day after Iran executed civil engineering graduate Ehsan Afrashteh who had returned to Iran from Turkey two years ago, on accusations of espionage and intelligence cooperation with Israel.

Earlier this week, Tehran also executed Erfan Shakourzadeh, a top-ranking graduate of Iran University of Science and Technology specializing in satellite technology, on spying charges.

US President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping “would like to see a deal made” with Iran and offered to help, in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

“Look, anybody that buys that much oil has obviously got some kind of a relationship with him,” Trump said.

“But he said, ‘I would love to be a help. If I could be of any help whatsoever...’” “He’d like to see the Hormuz Strait open,” Trump added.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said host countries of the FIFA World Cup are obligated to ensure equal and non-discriminatory treatment for all qualified teams, warning against what he called the politicization of the tournament.

In a statement posted on X on Thursday, Gharibabadi said Iran had secured its place at the World Cup “through official FIFA channels” and that any restrictions on Iranian players, officials or staff would violate the principles of international sport.

“The World Cup is a global event and is incompatible with political discrimination,” he wrote, adding that FIFA’s statutes prohibit discrimination against countries and individuals.

His remarks come amid growing concerns in Tehran over possible visa and entry restrictions for Iranian officials and team members linked to the IRGC ahead of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

US President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping told him Beijing would not provide military equipment to Iran, while also saying China wanted to continue buying Iranian oil.

“He said he’s not going to give military equipment. That’s a big statement,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Trump said China was not “fighting a war” with the United States but added that Xi raised Beijing’s oil purchases from Iran.

“They buy a lot of their oil there and they’d like to keep doing that,” Trump said.

Iran is still ruled by a “revolutionary terrorist regime” despite the deaths of senior leaders, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper said on Thursday.

Asked at a Senate hearing by Senator Tom Cotton whether that description of Iran still applied, Cooper replied: “They are.”

Cooper also agreed that Iran no longer had nearly as much military capability to act on its intentions, adding that the country had been “significantly degraded” across every element of national power.