Iran lawmaker says US talks won't proceed unless five preconditions met

ICT Minister Sattar Hashemi later told Shargh daily that the process of restoring the country’s internet access to its pre-January status has begun.

The semi-official news agency ISNA said Pezeshkian's order to restore internet access is expected to be implemented on Tuesday.

The IRGC-affiliated Fars News earlier questioned the administration’s authority to issue such an order, arguing that the decision to restrict internet access was made by the Supreme National Security Council and must therefore be reversed by the same body.

The president's order came after the fourth meeting of the Special Task Force on Cyberspace Management ended with 9 votes in favor and 3 against reconnecting Iran to the global internet after more than 85 days of disruption.

Peyman Jebelli, the head of Iran’s state broadcaster, and Mohammad-Amin Aghamiri, secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace, were among the firm opponents of restoring international internet access, Faraz reported citing informed sources.

According to Faraz, Jebelli and Aghamiri remained strongly opposed to restoring international internet access until the end of the meeting.

Faraz said Aghamiri’s opposition was notable because the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace is appointed by the president. Although Aghamiri was first appointed under the previous administration, President Pezeshkian later kept him in the post.

The report said Aghamiri is now moving against the government’s position at a time when Pezeshkian says restoring internet access is one of his concerns.

US President Donald Trump posted two AI-style memes criticizing Barack Obama’s approach to Iran, accusing him of funding Tehran and contrasting past calls for negotiation with his own use of force.

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Iran has made no commitment in the current draft memorandum with the United States to transfer nuclear material out of the country or take any nuclear-related action, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News reported, denying a report by Al-Hadath.

Tasnim said the Al-Hadath report on the details of the negotiations was “false” and part of what it called a US psychological operation.

“There is no sentence in the text of the memorandum that exists so far indicating readiness to transfer nuclear material abroad,” Tasnim said, adding that Iran had not made “any commitment regarding nuclear action” in the document.

The outlet also denied Al Hadath’s claim that the information came from “Iranian sources,” saying such assertions were “false” and “the product of the imagination of this media outlet.”

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said in his first message to the Iranian public that the country would not step back.

“There will be no retreat,” Zolghadr said, adding that this had been shown on the military front, in diplomacy and by the Islamic Republic's supporters in the streets through what he called their “resistance.”

He said Iran now needed “unity and cohesion” more than ever so that “the Americans and Zionists would also be disappointed on that front."

Zolghadr described unity as “another field in the struggle” and said avoiding any divisive words or actions would lead Iran to “final victory.”

A nonprofit group has threatened FIFA with legal action in the United States unless it reverses a reported policy barring Iran’s pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag from World Cup stadiums, The Athletic reported on Monday.

The Institute for Voices of Liberty sent a letter to FIFA through its legal counsel, Shahrokh Mokhtarzadeh, raising concerns over the reported restriction, The Athletic reported Monday.

Mokhtarzadeh told The Athletic by email that, depending on FIFA’s response or lack of response, “a decision will be made to commence formal proceedings in Superior Court, State of California or Federal Courts in California on a later date.”

The group’s legal counsel said Saturday afternoon that FIFA had not responded three days after the letter was sent.

“We are preparing to commence appropriate legal proceedings in case of attempts by FIFA to exclude the Lion and Sun flag,” they added.

The Athletic reported last week, citing sources with direct knowledge of FIFA’s planning, that the organization’s official guidance for World Cup venues would be to prohibit the pre-revolutionary Iranian flag during the tournament.