Iran Accuses Israel of ‘Lies to Poison’ Nuclear Talks

The Iranian flag flies in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag flies in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
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Iran Accuses Israel of ‘Lies to Poison’ Nuclear Talks

The Iranian flag flies in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)
The Iranian flag flies in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. (Reuters)

Iran on Wednesday accused Israel of "trumpeting lies to poison" the Vienna talks on reviving Tehran's 2015 nuclear agreement with major powers and it said all parties in the negotiations faced a test of their political will to complete the job.

"Israeli regime whose existence relies on tension is at it again, trumpeting lies to poison Vienna talks," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh posted on Twitter without specifying what Israeli comments he meant.

"All parties in the room now face a test of their independence & political will to carry out the job- irrespective of the fake news designed to destroy prospects for success," he added.

While it was unclear what news reports Khatibzadeh meant, a Tel Aviv-based reporter for US news organization Axios on Monday reported Israel had shared intelligence over the past two weeks with the United States and several European allies suggesting that Iran is taking technical steps to prepare to enrich uranium to 90% purity, the level needed for a nuclear weapon.

In a statement after meeting French President Emmanuel Macron, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday said Iran was trying to buy time to advance its nuclear program and major powers needed to come up with a different approach.

"Sanctions must be reinforced and there needs to be a credible military threat because that it is the only thing that will prevent Iran from carrying out its race for a nuclear weapon," Lapid said in a statement.



Erdogan Says Won't Let Terror 'Drag Syria Back to Instability'

Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)
Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)
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Erdogan Says Won't Let Terror 'Drag Syria Back to Instability'

Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)
Syria's newly appointed president for a transitional phase Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Türkiye, February 4, 2025. (Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters)

Türkiye will not allow extremists to drag Syria back into chaos and instability, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday after a suicide attack killed 22 at a Damascus church.

"We will never allow our neighbor and brother Syria... be dragged into a new environment of instability through proxy terrorist organizations," he said, vowing to support the new government's fight against such groups.

He did not explain what he meant by "proxy" groups but vowed that Türkiye would "continue to support the Syrian government’s fight against terrorism", AFP reported.

The Damascus government blamed Sunday night's shooting and suicide attack -- the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since the fall of strongman Bashar al-Assad six months ago -- on ISIS militants.

It cast the attack as a bid to "undermine national coexistence and to destabilize the country", which only began emerging from the post-civil war chaos after Assad's ouster six months ago.

Türkiye was a key backer of the HTS who ousted Assad under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa, now the interim president, and has repeatedly offered its operational and military to fight ISIS and other militant threats.