Raisi Ready for Vienna Talks But Without Examining Regional Influence, Ballistic Missile Program

 Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)
Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)
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Raisi Ready for Vienna Talks But Without Examining Regional Influence, Ballistic Missile Program

 Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)
Iran’s Foreign Minister-designate speaks to members of Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (Khaneh Mellat)

The new Raisi administration in Iran is preparing to return to nuclear talks without the thought of presenting any concessions that would encourage Washington to extend or expand the deal so that it tackles the cleric-led country’s ballistic missiles program and regional interferences.

On Sunday, Tehran lawmaker Esmaeil Kousari said that under President Ebrahim Raisi, the new government will continue “holding negotiations” but “without giving any compromises.”

“If nuclear weapons are bad, they should be considered as bad for all countries, including the US,” said Kousari, who is also a prominent figure from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

“They tell us to quit our influence in the region and not to have missiles(…) If it were decided for us not to have these missiles, then they must not have them either,” argued Kousari in a statement to government website “Asr Iran.”

Kousari moved on to clarify that halting nuclear talks is not planned and stressed that “negotiations will take place.”

“However, if they don’t want to treat us fairly, we won’t accept,” said the legislator.

Kousari’s statements come when parliament is looking to deliberate over the cabinet list submitted by Raisi, which introduces Hossein Amir Abdollahian, a diplomat who is close to the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, as Iran’s next foreign minister.

Before Raisi named Abdollahian as his pick for foreign minister, the veteran diplomat had held a two-hour discussion session with the EU point man on the Vienna nuclear talks, Enrique Mora. The session was held on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of Raisi.

After meeting Mora, Abdollahian tweeted that “negotiating with the US was never forbidden, but that the problem rather lies in the US’ bullying.”

Abdollahian also emphasized that “timing and force” are the two main pillars of any diplomatic negotiation.

In his tweet, the Foreign Minister-designate attached a photo from the 2006-2007 rare US-Iran talks over the war in Iraq.



7 more Turkish Soldiers Die from Methane Gas in Iraqi Cave, Raising Deaths to 12

FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
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7 more Turkish Soldiers Die from Methane Gas in Iraqi Cave, Raising Deaths to 12

FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Seven more Turkish soldiers have died from methane gas poisoning following a cave search operation in northern Iraq, Türkiye's Defense Ministry said Monday, bringing the death toll to 12. The soldiers had been searching for the remains of a fellow soldier previously killed by Kurdish militants.

The troops were searching a mountain cave when 19 of them were exposed to the gas, according to the ministry. Five of the soldiers died Sunday from the colorless, odorless, flammable gas that can cause asphyxiation in sufficient concentration, and seven more succumbed on Monday, Reuters reported.

“We pray for God’s mercy upon our heroic martyrs who lost their lives in this tragic event,” the ministry said Monday, also expressing hope for a rapid recovery for other troops that were affected.

It said Defense Minister Yasar Guler and armed forces' commanders were traveling to the region to carry out “inspections and evaluations” and attend a ceremony as the soldiers were flown to their hometowns for burial.

Speaking at the ceremony, Guler commended the troops' “great courage and sacrifice,” adding: “Our grief is immense and our feelings are beyond words.”

The ministry said the incident took place in the “Claw-Lock Operation region” — a reference to an operation launched against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq in April 2022.

There was no immediate information on the condition of the seven other soldiers who were affected by the gas.

Türkiye and the PKK have waged a 40-year conflict that has often spilled over into Iraq and Syria. Türkiye has set up a series of bases in northern Iraq, where the PKK has been established for decades.

The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Türkiye and most of the West, announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict as part of a new peace initiative with Türkiye.

Its fighters are expected to begin handing over their weapons over the next few days in the first concrete move toward disarmament.

According to the ministry, the Turkish unit overcome by methane gas had been searching for the remains of an infantry officer killed by “terrorist gunfire” during a search-and-clear mission in May 2022. Recovery teams have been scouring the area for the past three years.

The cave where the incident occurred sits at an altitude of 852 meters (2,795 feet) and had previously been used by the PKK as a field hospital.