United States

US President Donald Trump has asked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to manage a channel aimed at opening dialogue between Washington and Tehran as the kingdom seeks to avert further regional escalation, the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar reported on Tuesday.

Worsted in war and sapped by sanctions, the Islamic Republic remains determined to quash with deadly force any domestic move to topple it, former CIA case officer Reuel Marc Gerecht told Iran International.

Iran’s foreign ministry rejected reports about President Masoud Pezeshkian’s letter to Saudi crown prince, saying it was a routine bilateral message focused solely on Hajj coordination and contained nothing related to negotiations with the United States.

Iran on Sunday denied that President Masoud Pezeshkian’s letter to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was aimed at securing Saudi mediation with Washington, calling it a standard bilateral note tied to Hajj coordination.

The US State Department on Saturday blamed Iran’s government for tens of thousands of pollution-related deaths last year, calling it another burden on Iranian citizens already facing water shortages, economic collapse and arbitrary arrests.

Tehran is considering suspending or withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) following a Western-backed resolution passed by the UN atomic watchdog this week, a member of Iran’s parliament said on Saturday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the United States and three European powers have “killed” the Cairo nuclear agreement through what he called a sequence of hostile actions.

Iran said on Friday it will respond to the latest resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog’s board, calling it a political misuse of the agency and saying the vote has invalidated an inspection accord reached in Cairo.

The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-member Board of Governors on Thursday approved a resolution calling on Iran to promptly clarify the status of its enriched uranium and the condition of atomic sites hit in June by US and Israeli strikes.

Iran said on Wednesday that no negotiation process is underway with the United States, rejecting President Donald Trump’s claim a day earlier that the two sides had begun talks.

Iran would consider resuming nuclear talks with the United States but will only discuss limits on the degree of uranium enrichment, not the continuation of enrichment itself, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told CNN.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he seeks a deal with Iran and believes Tehran does too, speaking alongside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who said he would try to help Tehran and Washington reach a deal.

A deputy Iranian foreign minister said that although numerous channels exist for exchanging messages with the United States, very few of those communications are substantial enough to build on, arguing that Washington is still not ready for a results-oriented negotiation.

The Transatlantic Leadership Network (TLN) awarded journalist Negar Mojtahedi and Iran International TV the Freedom of the Media Award for Excellence in International Reporting at its 5th Annual Conference in Washington DC on Monday.

Iran's military and economic setbacks have deepened this year after it was worsted in a US-Israeli war and hit by mounting sanctions, two prominent experts told an Iran International panel, drawing parallels with the waning days of the Soviet Union.

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Republican lawmakers are preparing legislation that would impose sweeping sanctions on countries conducting business with Russia, with Iran potentially included in the scope of the measures.

US Central Command on Sunday accused Iran of violating international law after confirming that Iranian forces seized a Marshall Islands–flagged tanker in international waters in the Strait of Hormuz last week.

Tehran is prepared for another round of conflict, Iran’s foreign minister said, warning that foreign powers must choose between the path of nuclear diplomacy set out in the 2015 deal and the 12-day war that erupted in June.