Students chant ‘Death to Khamenei’ as campus protests hit fifth day

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told a private gathering on Tuesday that the administration is demanding any nuclear deal with Iran remain in effect indefinitely, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing a US official and two others with knowledge of the comments.

“We start with the Iranians with the premise that there is no sunset provision. Whether we get a deal or not, our premise is: you have to behave for the rest of your lives,” Axios quoted Witkoff as saying at a gathering of AIPAC donors in Washington, according to the sources.

Witkoff added that the US-Iran negotiations are currently focused on nuclear issues, but if a deal is reached the Trump administration would seek follow-up talks on Iran’s missile program and its support for regional militia groups, the report said.

At that stage, the United States would want other countries in the region to participate in the talks, he said.

Witkoff also said that two key issues in the current nuclear talks are Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and the fate of its existing stockpile of enriched uranium, according to Axios.

Iran-linked hacking group Handala said it had breached Israel’s largest healthcare provider, Clalit, and released sensitive medical data belonging to more than 10,000 patients.

At least 180 university students in Tehran have been summoned to disciplinary committees by text message, a University of Tehran students’ group said in a post on its Telegram channel, amid anti-establishment student protests. It added that more than 60 others were told by phone not to attend university.

"We are ready to address concerns but we are not ready to give up our right for peaceful use of nuclear tech," Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with India Today TV.

He added that Tehran is not developing long-range missiles.

"We are not developing long range missiles. We have limited range to below 2000kms intentionally," he said. "We don’t want it to be a global threat. We only have (them) to defend ourselves. Our missiles build deterrence."

"The President has ​been ⁠as crystal clear ‌as he ​could be, Iran can't have ‌a nuclear weapon... ​He's going to try ​to accomplish it diplomatically," US Vice President JD ‌Vance said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.

“Iran’s territorial integrity is the ultimate red line of our great and united nation,” Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi said, rejecting what he described as separatist claims against the country’s unity in a statement posted on X.

Hezbollah would not intervene militarily in the event of “limited” US strikes on Iran, but would consider any attack on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei a “red line,” AFP reported, citing an official from the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

Britain has not ‌paused ​the ratification ⁠process for ‌a deal to cede sovereignty of ​the Chagos Archipelago - ‌including an island with the ‌strategically important US-UK air base Diego ⁠Garcia - to Mauritius, Reuters reported citing an unnamed government ‌source.

Earlier on Wednesday, foreign office minister Hamish Falconer told lawmakers the ratification process in parliament had been paused and that discussions were underway with the United States.

The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new Iran-related sanctions on four individuals as well as several entities and tankers, a notice on the department’s website showed.

“Iran exploits financial systems to sell illicit oil, launder the proceeds, procure components for its nuclear and conventional weapons programs, and support its terrorist proxies,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Under President Trump’s strong leadership, Treasury will continue to put maximum pressure on Iran to target the regime’s weapons capabilities and support for terrorism, which it has prioritized over the lives of the Iranian people,” Bessent added.

Wednesday's sanctions target over 30 individuals, entities, and vessels which the US Treasury said enable illicit Iranian petroleum sales and Iran’s ballistic missile and advanced conventional weapons (ACW) production.

Saudi Arabia is increasing oil production and exports as part of a contingency plan in case any US strike on Iran disrupts Middle East supplies, Reuters reported, citing two sources familiar with the plan.

The plan involves raising output to boost exports but scaling back later to remain in line with OPEC+ quotas if no disruption occurs, the report said, citing the sources.

Saudi Arabia adopted a similar approach last year, lifting exports by about 0.5 million barrels per day and shipping more crude to overseas storage when the United States attacked Iranian nuclear sites.

The kingdom will dial back on the plan if no disruption happens and will produce less oil later to keep in line with its OPEC+ quotas, the report cited one of the sources as saying.