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Iran Parliament Criticizes Blinken Plan on Nuclear Deal

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)
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Iran Parliament Criticizes Blinken Plan on Nuclear Deal

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf speaks after being elected parliament speaker in Tehran on May 28, 2020 (AFP)

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on Sunday described US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent remarks on Tehran as “disappointing.”

“If the US believes in the nuclear deal, it should display its commitment to it in practice instead of setting preconditions,” the Speaker said, addressing an open session of the parliament in Tehran.

Last week, Blinken said that President Joe Biden has been very clear in saying that if Iran comes back to compliance with obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, the United States would do the same thing.

However, Qalibaf said Tehran is waiting for the Biden government’s practical measures to lift sanctions rather than speaking of preconditions.

Iran and the new US administration have issuing statements on conditions demanding the other party to take the first step in returning to the nuclear deal, which Washington unilaterally withdrew from in 2018.

During a visit to the Fordow nuclear plant on January 28, Qalibaf said the country has produced 17 kilograms of 20 percent-enriched uranium within a month.

Referring to his visit to the site, the speaker said Sunday he was happy that the centrifuges are rotating once again.

“With the centrifuges now rotating with 20% uranium enrichment, the country’s foreign diplomacy has a full hand in any future negotiations,” he said.

In December, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the country is in no hurry to see the United States return to the nuclear deal.

Last week, Blinken criticized Iran of being out of compliance on a number of fronts.

“And it would take some time, should it make the decision to do so, for it to come back into compliance and time for us then to assess whether it was meeting its obligations," the US Secretary of State told a news conference.

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World

Zelensky Says Draft Plan Freezes Front Line, Opens Way for Concessions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a press conference on the occasion of Diplomatic Service Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 December 2025, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a press conference on the occasion of Diplomatic Service Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 December 2025, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
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Zelensky Says Draft Plan Freezes Front Line, Opens Way for Concessions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a press conference on the occasion of Diplomatic Service Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 December 2025, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a press conference on the occasion of Diplomatic Service Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, 22 December 2025, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest version of a plan to end the Russian invasion would freeze the front line, but still pave the way for Ukrainian withdrawals and the creation of demilitarized zones.

Zelensky said the 20-point plan, agreed on by US and Ukrainian negotiators, was being reviewed by Moscow. The Kremlin is unlikely to abandon its hardline territorial demands and Zelensky also conceded there are some points in the document that he does not like.

But it appears Kyiv has managed to shift the plan away from an original 28-point US proposal, which adhered to many of Russia's core demands.

That plan had demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the 20 percent of the Donetsk region it still controls and that land occupied by Moscow be recognized as Russian territory.

A requirement for Kyiv to legally renounce its bid to join NATO has also been dropped from the latest plan, though the United States has long said it would not admit Ukraine to the bloc.

"In the Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, the line of troop deployment as of the date of this agreement is de facto recognised as the line of contact," Zelensky said of the latest version.

"A working group will convene to determine the redeployment of forces necessary to end the conflict, as well as to define the parameters of potential future special economic zones," he added.

Zelensky shared details of the 20-point plan with journalists in a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday, published early Wednesday morning.

This appears to suggest the plan opens the way for, but delays, options that Ukraine was previously reluctant to consider -- a withdrawal of troops and the creation of demilitarized zones.

"We are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from the Donetsk region, while the Americans are trying to find a way," Zelensky said.

"They are looking for a demilitarized zone or a free economic zone, meaning a format that could satisfy both sides," he continued.

Ukraine also suggested Energodar, a city occupied by Russia that manages the Zaporizhzhia power plant, could become a demilitarized zone.

Any plan that involves Ukraine pulling back its troop would need to pass a referendum in Ukraine, Zelensky said.

"A free economic zone. If we are discussing this, then we need to go to a referendum," Zelensky said.

The plan also sees joint US-Ukrainian-Russian management of the Zaporizhzhia plant, occupied by Russian troops. Zelensky said he does not want any Russian oversight of the facility.

World

Iran’s Armed Forces: We Are Ready for Any Hostile Scenario

A poster shows slain members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, who were killed in the June war, over a highway in Tehran on June 14.
A poster shows slain members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, who were killed in the June war, over a highway in Tehran on June 14.
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Iran’s Armed Forces: We Are Ready for Any Hostile Scenario

A poster shows slain members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, who were killed in the June war, over a highway in Tehran on June 14.
A poster shows slain members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, who were killed in the June war, over a highway in Tehran on June 14.

Spokesperson of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said on Tuesday that his country’s naval, ground, and missile forces are ready to confront any threat or hostile scenario.

Speaking at a meeting at Sharif University, Shekarchi said much of Iran’s military capabilities have not yet been utilized, in a direct threat to Israel amid escalating regional tension that followed the June war.

“Iran’s defense doctrine is based on deterrence,” he said, emphasizing that his country does not initiate wars, but responds decisively to aggression.

“Any offensive action would be intended to punish an aggressor rather than to start a conflict,” Shekarchi said, according to the Daneshjoo News Agency, a semi-official Iranian news outlet primarily managed by the University Students' Basij Organization.

Referring to the June war with Israel, Shekarchi said Iran’s adversaries employed a comprehensive hybrid strategy combining military and non‑military tools but failed to achieve their objectives.

But he added that the Basij forces, as well as the naval and ground forces, remains “fully prepared and unused.”

In an indirect reference to Western reports saying Iran is restoring damaged ballistic missile production capabilities, Shekarchi said Iran has continued to strengthen its power and has never suspended its military activities, even at the height of tensions.

He said Iran’s Fattah missiles were able to penetrate advanced air defense systems and struck targets in Israel with high precision.

“These missiles did not strike blindly or wander off course,” Shekarchi said. “They hit exactly the predetermined targets,” he added, noting that the missile strikes demonstrated accuracy and operational effectiveness.

In his speech, the spokesperson also spoke about the nature of hostility against Iran, which has increasingly shifted toward “soft warfare”, including media campaigns, propaganda and psychological operations aimed at undermining public morale and hope rather than direct military confrontation.

At the local security level, Shekarchi revealed that Iranian authorities dismantled a large espionage network. He said around 2,000 people linked to hostile intelligence services were arrested several months before the start of the war and until its end.

He said the network took years of planning, training and financial investment, with large sums spent on organizing and supporting its members.

“It will take years and lots of money to rebuild such a network,” he said.

His comments come as US and Israeli officials warn that Tehran is ramping up its missile and nuclear production efforts.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that Israel is watching Iran and warned of a tough response to any aggression.

“We know that Iran has been doing exercises lately. We are following this, and we are making the necessary preparations. I want to make it clear to Iran here, any action against Israel will be met with a very harsh response,” he warned.

World

Two Police Officers Killed by Bomb in Moscow Near Site of Russian General’s Killing

The damaged Kia Sorento lies at the scene where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's army operational training directorate, was killed in a car bomb in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
The damaged Kia Sorento lies at the scene where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's army operational training directorate, was killed in a car bomb in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
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Two Police Officers Killed by Bomb in Moscow Near Site of Russian General’s Killing

The damaged Kia Sorento lies at the scene where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's army operational training directorate, was killed in a car bomb in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
The damaged Kia Sorento lies at the scene where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's army operational training directorate, was killed in a car bomb in Moscow, Russia, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)

Three people were killed by a bomb on Wednesday in Moscow after two police officers approached a man acting suspiciously near the site where a senior general was killed two days ago ‌by a car ‌bomb that Russia said ‌was planted ⁠by ​Ukrainian ‌intelligence.

A string of Russian military figures and high-profile supporters of the war in Ukraine have been assassinated during the nearly four-year-old conflict; Ukrainian military intelligence has said it was responsible for a number of the attacks.

Russia's State Investigative Committee said that when two police officers ⁠approached a man who was acting strangely, they were killed by ‌an explosive device, adding that ‍a third person was also ‍killed. It did not specify who the ‍third person was.

It said it opened criminal cases under clauses dealing with the murder of law enforcement officers and the illegal trafficking of bombs.

Unofficial Russian Telegram news channels ​said the bomber was one of those killed and he detonated the bomb when approached ⁠by the officers. Reuters could not independently confirm those details.

The blast took place very close to where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Russian General Staff's army operational training directorate, was killed on Monday.

Russia said it suspected Ukraine was behind the killing. There was no official comment from Ukraine.

Myrotvorets, an unofficial Ukrainian website that provides a database of people described as war criminals or traitors, updated its entry ‌on Sarvarov to say the 56-year-old general had been "liquidated."