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Iran MPs Threaten to Derail Vienna Talks

Part of the meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria (EU Delegation in Vienna)
Part of the meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria (EU Delegation in Vienna)
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Iran MPs Threaten to Derail Vienna Talks

Part of the meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria (EU Delegation in Vienna)
Part of the meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria (EU Delegation in Vienna)

Iranian hardliners in the parliament have indicated that they will block a possible settlement in negotiations aimed at resuming the 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“The results of the nuclear negotiations in Vienna must be in line with Iranian law, otherwise they will be illegal,” warned MP Alireza Salimi.

Tasnim News Agency reported that a settlement between the two sides would lead Washington to partially lift the sanctions, however it would not be legal unless approved by parliament.

A nuclear law passed by the Iranian parliament last year calls for the lifting of all sanctions as a condition for Iran to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Qatar and Iraq Sunday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement that the tour comes within the framework of developing bilateral relations and addressing regional and international talks.

During his visit, Zarif will meet a number of prominent officials in the two countries, according to Khatibzadeh.

Diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, and Russia have been meeting in a Vienna hotel to discuss a return to the deal, while US envoys are participating indirectly in the talks from a nearby hotel.

Meanwhile, Time of Israel quoted Brett McGurk of the US National Security Council as saying that no sanctions would be removed before Washington gets clear commitments on Iran’s return to the 2015 accord.

“Until we get somewhere and until we have a firm commitment, and it’s very clear that Iran’s nuclear program is going to be capped, the problematic aspects reversed and back in a box, we are not going to take any of the pressure off,” said McGurk.

He said that with talks resuming in Vienna on Monday, “there’s a very long way to go and this process is complicated.”

McGurk stressed that the US is “not going to pay anything upfront just to get a process going. We have to see from the Iranians a fundamental commitment and agreement to put their nuclear program back in a box that we can fully inspect and observe.”

Iran has pressed for the US to lift all sanctions imposed under former President Donald Trump before it rolls back the steps Tehran took away from the 2015 deal in protest.

The Biden administration had repeatedly said that it would only return to the nuclear deal if Iran first returned to compliance.

However, on Tuesday, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that Washington would only need to be sure that Iran intended to return to compliance.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that 60-70 percent of issues had been resolved in Vienna.

Israel is worried that Washington is rushing too quickly to return to the 2015 accord and is ignoring the concerns of Israel and other Middle Eastern countries.

Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi will travel to the US on Sunday to discuss the threat of Iran’s nuclear program and its entrenchment throughout the region.

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World

Trump Says Iran Wants Deal, US ‘Armada’ Larger Than in Venezuela Raid

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
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Trump Says Iran Wants Deal, US ‘Armada’ Larger Than in Venezuela Raid

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)

President Donald Trump said Thursday he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal to avoid military action, adding that the US "armada" near Iran was bigger than the one he dispatched to topple Venezuela's leader.

"We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now, even larger than what we had in Venezuela," the Republican president told reporters in the Oval Office.

"Hopefully we'll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens."

Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal on its nuclear program, ballistic missiles and other issues, Trump said "yeah I have" but added that "only they know for sure" what it was.

Trump, however, cited what he said was Iran's decision to halt executions of protesters -- after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed -- as evidence to show Tehran was ready to comply.

"I can say this, they do want to make a deal," Trump said.

Trump declined to say whether, if Iran did not reach a deal, he planned a repeat of the dramatic operation in Venezuela in which US forces captured president Nicolas Maduro.

"I don't want to talk about anything having to do with what I'm doing militarily," he said.

World

‘He Probably Would’ve Survived’: Iran Targeting Hospitals in Crackdown

A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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‘He Probably Would’ve Survived’: Iran Targeting Hospitals in Crackdown

A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Hospitals are no longer places of safety as Iran's crackdown on anti-government protests impacts all aspects of life, rights groups say, with authorities arresting wounded protesters and even the medics who treat them.

Activists accuse security forces of killing thousands of people and wounding more by directly firing on protests, often with birdshot that can leave metal pellets lodged in the body until hygienically extracted by a professional.

But rights groups say authorities have raided hospitals searching for people with wounds that suggest they were involved in protests. At least five doctors have meanwhile been arrested for treating them, according to the World Health Organization.

Amnesty International said security forces had "arrested protesters receiving treatment in hospitals", adding it had received information that medical staff in central Isfahan province had been ordered to notify authorities about patients with injuries from gunshots and shotgun pellets.

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said it "has documented cases in which security forces raided hospitals to identify and arrest protesters injured during demonstrations".

In apparent response to the charges, Iran's health ministry this week urged those injured in the protests to go to hospital.

"Our advice to the public is that if they suffer any kind of injury, they should not try to treat it at home, and they should not worry about going to medical centers," the health ministry said, in a statement carried by state television.

- 'Raiding medical facilities' -

Sajad Rahimi, 36, from Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm, was badly wounded after security forces shot at him when he joined a protest in the southern province of Fars at the peak of the movement on January 9, according to Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.

But fearing he could be shot dead by security forces in a "coup de grace", he asked friends not to take him directly to hospital, said IHR, which has investigated this and several other cases and spoke to the man's brother.

Eventually, the family transferred him to hospital, but he died as a result of a deep wound caused by live ammunition and severe bleeding.

"The doctor said that if he had arrived at the hospital just ten minutes earlier, he would probably have survived," his brother told IHR.

The group said it had reports of "security forces raiding certain medical facilities and informal shelters for the wounded in order to arrest medical staff and volunteer first responders".

The Hengaw rights group, also based in Norway, highlighted the case of Dr Ali Reza Golchni, a physician from the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, who it said had been arrested "for providing medical care to injured protesters".

- 'Grave violations' -

World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned by multiple reports of health personnel and medical facilities in Iran being impacted by the recent insecurity, and prevented from delivering their essential services to people requiring care".

He said there were reports of "at least five doctors detained, while treating injured patients".

The World Medical Association (WMA) said it had received reports that security forces arrested injured protesters in both the Isfahan and the southwestern province of Chaharmahal-and-Bakhtiari.

"Hospital staff have also been instructed to report patients suffering gunfire injuries to security authorities, with non-compliance exposing them to prosecution and other reprisals," it said, citing information received by the WMA.

Hengaw also cited the case of Taher Malekshahi, a 12-year-old Kurdish-Iranian boy from Qorveh in western Iran who was severely injured after being shot in the face and eyes with pellet ammunition.

It said he lost one eye and suffered serious damage to the other, publishing a picture of his face with the boy's entire forehead pock-marked with pellet wounds.

It said while he was currently receiving intensive medical treatment in Tehran, "authorities have pressured his family to falsely claim he was wounded by 'terrorists' in exchange for state recognition as a war-disabled victim."

World

Guterres Warns of UN’s ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)
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Guterres Warns of UN’s ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)

The UN chief has told member states that the organization is at risk of "imminent financial collapse", citing unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces the global body to return unspent money, a letter seen by Reuters on Friday showed.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly spoken about the organization's worsening liquidity crisis, but this is his starkest warning yet, and it comes as its main contributor the United States is retreating from multilateralism on numerous fronts.

"The crisis is deepening, threatening program delivery and risking financial collapse. ‌And the situation ‌will deteriorate further in the near future," Guterres wrote ‌in ⁠a letter ‌to ambassadors dated January 28.

The US has slashed voluntary funding to UN agencies and refused to make mandatory payments to its regular and peacekeeping budgets. US President Donald Trump has described the UN as having "great potential" but said it is not fulfilling that, and he has launched a Board of Peace which some fear could undermine the older international body.

Founded in 1945, the UN has 193 member states and works to maintain ⁠international peace and security, promote human rights, foster social and economic development, and coordinate humanitarian aid.

In his letter, Guterres ‌said "decisions not to honor assessed contributions that finance a ‍significant share of the approved regular ‍budget have now been formally announced."

He did not say which state or ‍states he was referring to, and a UN spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

'KAFKAESQUE CYCLE'

Under UN rules, contributions depend on the size of the economy of each member state. The US accounts for 22% of the core budget followed by China with 20%.

But by the end of 2025 there was a record $1.57 billion in outstanding dues, Guterres said, without naming them.

“Either all Member States honor their ⁠obligations to pay in full and on time – or Member States must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse," he said.

Guterres launched a reform task force last year, known as UN80, which seeks to cut costs and improve efficiency. To that end, states agreed to cut the 2026 budget by around 7% to $3.45 billion.

Still, Guterres warned in the letter that the organization could run out of cash by July.

One of the problems is a rule now seen as antiquated whereby the global body has to credit back hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent dues to states each year.

"In other words, we are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle expected ‌to give back cash that does not exist," said Guterres, referring to author Franz Kafka who wrote about oppressive bureaucratic processes.