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'Very Clear Intent' by Iran to Return to Nuclear Talks

Iran's flag outside the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna (Reuters)
Iran's flag outside the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna (Reuters)
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'Very Clear Intent' by Iran to Return to Nuclear Talks

Iran's flag outside the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna (Reuters)
Iran's flag outside the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna (Reuters)

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian expressed a "very clear intent" to return to nuclear talks in Vienna, Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Wednesday after meeting with him on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

"That may not happen for a number of weeks, as the new Iranian government finalizes their approach towards those negotiations. But certainly, he expressed a very clear intent to return to those negotiations," Coveney told reporters.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also met Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

Iran's foreign ministry said that Iran will return to talks, Borrell said.

Borrell stressed the need for Iran’s full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to resolve outstanding issues and reiterated his concern about the overall trajectory of the Iranian nuclear program.

The western states on Tuesday in the UN pressured Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to resume talks the soonest. Yet, they didn’t get a vow from Iran in this regard.

Since April, Vienna has been hosting talks between Iran and the five signatory countries of the 2015 nuclear deal - Germany, China, France, UK, and Russia.

The negotiations aim at returning the US to the agreement, knowing that former President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in May 2018. They also aim at pushing Iran to fulfill its international commitments in the deal.

The talks have been suspended since June following the presidential elections in Iran.

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World

North Korea’s Kim Marks Completion of Pyongyang Housing Project as Key Party Congress Nears 

This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
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North Korea’s Kim Marks Completion of Pyongyang Housing Project as Key Party Congress Nears 

This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un marked the completion of 10,000 new houses built in Pyongyang, state media KCNA said on Tuesday, as the country prepares to hold a key party congress.

Kim has been touring construction sites and touting project progress ahead of this month's Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers' Party, the country's biggest political gathering that reviews performance, sets ‌new policy ‌goals and can bring leadership change.

On Monday, ‌Kim ⁠oversaw the completion ⁠ceremony for 10,000 houses in Hwasong District, Pyongyang, which achieved the goal of 50,000 new houses in the metropolitan area set during the Eighth Congress five years ago, according to state broadcaster KCNA.

This picture taken on February 16, 2026 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on February 17, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center R) and his daughter Ju Ae (center L) attending the inauguration ceremony of 10,000 flats of the fourth stage in Hwasong Area of Pyongyang. (KCNA via KNS / AFP)

"Based on the transformational achievements... during the Eighth period, the Ninth Congress ⁠of the party will set a grander ‌goal of restoration and ‌creation," Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim's daughter Ju Ae was ‌shown at her father's side at the completion ceremony, ‌hugging and congratulating the residents of the new estate. There has been increasing speculation among analysts and from South Korea's spy agency that Kim is grooming the teenager to ‌succeed him.

As part of their tour of the housing project, North Korean state TV ⁠showed Kim ⁠and Ju Ae also visiting an arcade game center that looked similar to an internet cafe, a musical instrument shop and an animal hospital where they petted a puppy.

Meanwhile, KCNA said those participating in the upcoming party congress arrived in Pyongyang on Monday.

In the past two instances in 2016 and 2021, the Congress began three to four days after representatives arrived in Pyongyang, according to Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

World

At Least 14 Killed in Spate of Attacks in Northwest Pakistan

A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP
A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP
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At Least 14 Killed in Spate of Attacks in Northwest Pakistan

A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP
A spate of attacks in northwest Pakistan on Monday killed at least three civilians and 11 security personnel. Karim ULLAH / AFP

Two bomb attacks and a gunfight between police and militants in northwest Pakistan killed at least 11 security personnel and three civilians, including a child, a security official said.

The separate incidents on Monday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which left at least 25 others wounded, come as Pakistan's security forces battle intensifying insurgencies in southern and northern provinces that border Afghanistan.

This month the ISIS group claimed responsibility for a massive suicide blast at a mosque in the capital Islamabad that killed at least 31 people, with 169 more wounded.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the security official told AFP that on Monday evening a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the wall of a religious college in the tribal district of Bajaur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

"As a result, eight police and Frontier Corps personnel present inside the seminary were martyred and 10 others injured," he said.

"The blast also caused the roofs of several nearby houses to collapse, killing a child."

He added the death told may rise.

In another attack in the town of Bannu, a bomb planted in a rickshaw exploded at the Miryan police station, killing two civilians and wounding 17 others, the official said.

- Chinese targeted -

Elsewhere, three police personnel and three militants were also killed during a search operation in Shangla district.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police force said in a statement, also late on Monday, that the three militants who died in the firefight had been involved in "attacks targeting Chinese nationals".

Beijing has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan in recent years, but Chinese-funded projects have sparked resentment and their citizens have frequently come under attack.

In March last year, five Chinese nationals working on a major dam construction site were killed along with their driver when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle, which plunged into a deep ravine off the mountainous Karakoram Highway.

Beijing is Islamabad's closest regional ally, readily providing financial assistance to bail out its often struggling neighbor.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has seen tens of billions of dollars funneled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects -- part of Beijing's transnational "Belt and Road" scheme.

The police statement said "due to the area's proximity to the Silk Road route, (the militants) posed a persistent threat to the strategic road corridor and Chinese development projects."

"In light of this, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and the district police launched a joint operation today under a coordinated strategy."

World

India Seizes Three Iran-linked US-sanctioned Tankers

This photo posted on the X account of the US Department of Defense on February 15, 2026 shows what the Department of Defense says are US military forces preparing to interdict and board an oil tanker, the Veronica III, in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / US Department of Defense / AFP)
This photo posted on the X account of the US Department of Defense on February 15, 2026 shows what the Department of Defense says are US military forces preparing to interdict and board an oil tanker, the Veronica III, in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / US Department of Defense / AFP)
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India Seizes Three Iran-linked US-sanctioned Tankers

This photo posted on the X account of the US Department of Defense on February 15, 2026 shows what the Department of Defense says are US military forces preparing to interdict and board an oil tanker, the Veronica III, in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / US Department of Defense / AFP)
This photo posted on the X account of the US Department of Defense on February 15, 2026 shows what the Department of Defense says are US military forces preparing to interdict and board an oil tanker, the Veronica III, in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Handout / US Department of Defense / AFP)

India has seized three US-sanctioned oil tankers linked to Iran this month and stepped up surveillance in its maritime zone to curb illicit trade, a source said on Monday, confirming a post on X by Indian authorities earlier in February that had been deleted.

India aims to prevent its waters from being used for ship-to-ship transfers that obscure the origin of oil cargoes, the source with direct knowledge of the matter told ‌Reuters.

The seizures and ‌heightened surveillance follow an improvement in US-India relations. Washington ‌earlier ⁠this month announced it ⁠will cut import tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from 50%, after New Delhi agreed to stop Russian oil imports.

The three sanctioned vessels - Stellar Ruby, Asphalt Star and Al Jafzia - frequently changed their identities to evade law enforcement by coastal states, the source said, adding that their owners were based overseas.

VESSELS SEIZED OFFSHORE MUMBAI

Iranian state media cited the National Iranian Oil Company as ⁠saying that the three tankers seized by India ‌had no connection to the company. It ‌said that neither the cargoes nor the vessels were linked to the company.

Indian authorities ‌had said in a post on X on February 6 that ‌they intercepted three vessels about 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai after detecting suspicious activity involving a tanker in India's exclusive economic zone.

The post was later deleted, but the source confirmed that the vessels had been escorted to Mumbai for ‌further investigation.

The Indian Coast Guard has since deployed about 55 ships and between 10 and 12 aircraft for round-the-clock ⁠surveillance in its ⁠maritime zones, according to the source.

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control said last year it had sanctioned three vessels, called Global Peace, Chil 1, and Glory Star 1, with IMO numbers identical to the ships lately captured by India.

Two of the three tankers are linked to Iran, with Al Jafzia having carried fuel oil from Iran to Djibouti in 2025 and Stellar Ruby flagged in Iran, according to LSEG data.

The Asphalt Star mostly operated on voyages around China, the data show.

Sanctioned oil and fuel are often sold at deep discounts due to the risks involved, with intermediaries moving cargo through complex ownership structures, false documentation and mid-sea transfers that complicate enforcement.