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.



Doctor Cites the Pope's 'Surprising Improvement' after Surviving Life-Threatening Crises

 Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)
Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)
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Doctor Cites the Pope's 'Surprising Improvement' after Surviving Life-Threatening Crises

 Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)
Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. (AP)

Pope Francis has shown ''a truly surprising improvement'' since returning to the Vatican to convalesce after surviving a life-threatening bout with double-pneumonia, the doctor who coordinated the pontiff's five-week hospitalization said Saturday.

“I find him very lively,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri said, after visiting the pope at his apartment in the Santa Marta Domus on Wednesday, three days after his release from Rome's Gemelli hospital. “I believe that he will return if not to 100%, 90% of where he was before.”

Francis appeared frail and weak as he greeted a crowd of well-wishers from a hospital balcony on Sunday. His voice was waning as he praised a woman in the crowd for bringing yellow flowers. He was able to only partially lift his arm to bless the people and he gasped for air as he was wheeled back inside.

Alfieri said the pope's voice was regaining strength, and that his reliance on supplemental oxygen has decreased. The limited mobility of his arm was due to an unspecified trauma he sustained before being hospitalized, and that will take time to heal, Alfieri said.

The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized on Feb. 14 after a long bout with bronchitis that left him breathless at times, and which quickly developed into double pneumonia and revealed a polymicrobial (viral, bacterial and fungal) respiratory infection. Throughout the ordeal, doctors emphasized the complexity of his condition, given his age, lack of mobility requiring a wheelchair, and the removal of part of a lung as a young man.

Alfieri repeated that he didn't think the pope would make it after a severe respiratory crisis a week after being hospitalized, and he informed the pope that a “decisive” treatment necessary to save him would put his organs at risk.

“He gave his consent, and then he looked at Massimiliano Streppetti, whom he named his personal health assistant who assumed the responsibility, to say, 'We approve everything,' also at the price of coming out with damaged kidneys or bone marrow that produces damaging red blood cells,” said Alfieri.

Alfieri preferred to describe the treatment as “decisive,” and not aggressive, and emphasized that no extraordinary, life-extending measures were ever taken. The Feb. 22 incident was one of several critical moments when the pope's life hung in the balance, the doctor said.

While Francis beat the double pneumonia in the hospital, Alfieri said he is continuing to treat the fungal infection, which he said will take months to resolve. The pope is also receiving physical, respiratory and speech therapy.

Alfieri continues to consult the pope's personal medical team daily, and will visit Francis in the Vatican every week.

The pope demonstrated his trademark humor in this week's visit, responding to a comment by Alfieri that the 88-year-old pontiff had the mentality of a 50- or 60-year-old. “As I leaned in, he said, 'Not 50, 40,'” Alfieri recalled. “So his good sense of humor is back.”

Doctors have ordered the pope to rest for at least two months and to avoid crowds. But after seeing the pope's improvements and knowing his work ethic, Alfieri warned that “if he recovers so quickly, they will have to put on the brakes.”