LIVE
Summary
UN nuclear agency chief Raphael Grossi said a new deal would likely be a departure from a 2015 agreement and would potentially include more bold and clear provisions.
Iran clings to optimism as strict demands cloud talks with US
Tehran and Washington are set to resume talks this weekend, but growing calls to condition any agreement on the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure are casting a shadow over early optimism.
Republican senators argue for barring Iran enrichment, moot treaty
Iran must agree to cease uranium enrichment in any nuclear deal and the US congress could move to enshrine such an agreement in a treaty should US President Trump wish, Republican senators told Iran International.
Tehran's red lines dominate parliament's closed-door session on US talks
Iran's parliament convened a closed-door session on Tuesday to review the ongoing indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington, with lawmakers expressing firm red lines on domestic nuclear enrichment, lifting of sanctions and foreign oversight.
Summary
Official figures say at least 70 people have been killed and over 1,200 injured in the explosion.
Mideast Crisis
US warns Iran of consequences if Yemeni Houthis not reigned in
The US Defense Secretary has warned Iran that it will bear the direct consequences of the actions of its allies in Yemen amid the ongoing military blockade in the Red Sea.
Human Rights
Iran executes political prisoner accused of spying for Israel
Iran executed a political prisoner accused of spying for Israel at Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran on Wednesday.
Debate me, Cruz: senator and Iranian ex-nuclear negotiator scrap online
Outspoken Iran hawk senator Ted Cruz and a controversial former nuclear negotiator and senior Iranian diplomat turned Princeton academic Seyed Hossein Mousavian have gotten into an online tussle after the Texas lawmaker called for his deportation.
Port Blast
Iran confirms media ban on port blast as threat of prosecution looms
The Iranian government confirmed a media ban on coverage regarding last week's explosion at Rajaei port in Bandar Abbas where at least 70 people have died and more than 1,000 injured, with the threat of prosecutions confirmed by the judiciary.
Satellite imagery shows scale of destruction after Iran port explosion
Satellite images obtained by Iran International show the aftermath of the April 26 explosion over a 50-hectare area at Rajaei port in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran.
Iran blocks newborn’s birth certificate over ‘banned’ name
Iranian authorities have refused to register a newborn named Guntay, denying him a birth certificate and healthcare access over what they called the name's non-compliance with Iranian and Islamic cultural norms.
Economy
Inside Iran’s maze of multiple exchange rates
Foreign exchange rates, which have a critical impact on economic life, fluctuate frequently depending on where they are traded, adding to the anxiety of businesses and ordinary Iranians enduring inflation and sanctions.
Trump’s ambitious but unpredictable Iran policy hits 100-day mark
Talks with Tehran aim to deprive Washington's Middle East nemesis of a nuclear weapon, but time will tell whether US President Donald Trump will carry through on his threat to bomb the country.
Iran's Nuclear Program
Sanctions snapback power gives central role to Europe in Iran-US talks
Iran is stepping up diplomatic outreach to the E3 group of countries—France, Britain and Germany—in an effort to delay or prevent their activation of the so-called snapback mechanism built into a 2015 deal if nuclear talks with the United States fail.
Domestic Politics
Domestic issues dog Tehran as it negotiates with Washington
Iran hopes to resolve its biggest foreign affairs challenge through talks with the United States at the same time it grapples with some of the toughest domestic problems in the Islamic Republic's nearly 50-year history.
Iranian hardliners, officials fall in line behind Khamenei’s shift on US talks
Iran’s political and religious establishment is closing ranks to defend Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s backing of renewed negotiations with the United States, with clerics and hardliners urging the public to view flexibility as a continuation of revolutionary goals.
Iran seeks 'controlled narrative' at home on US talks
Cautious statements from some Iranian officials and a paucity of disclosures by the tightly-controlled media on ongoing talks with the United States suggests an official desire to control the public discourse on the hyper-sensitive dossier.
In Case You Missed It
Iran says major cyberattack on infrastructure repelled
Iran said it foiled a major cyberattack targeting its infrastructure on Sunday in the midst of blazing fires following the explosion which rocked its key container port in Bandar Abbas.
Eye for Iran Podcast
Tehran needs US talks to live, ex-Iranian diplomat says
The Islamic Republic will seek a new lease on life in US talks, former Iranian diplomat Hossein Alizadeh told the Eye for Iran podcast, adding that Iran's rulers will never abandon their hardline ideology against the West.
Iran: deal or no deal?
Tehran Insider
No deal for us: how Iran–US talks affect ordinary Iranians
I’ve grown the habit of checking the dollar exchange rate every few hours, even though I sold all that I had a few months ago—or perhaps because I sold all that I had a few months ago.
'Martyr families': Iran's last war leaves bitter legacy
My 23-year-old cousin, Ali, newly married and the father of a two-month-old baby, was killed in the Iran-Iraq war in 1985. From that moment, everything in my uncle’s family changed.
