Iran Imposes Sanctions on 24 Americans as Nuclear Talks Stall

Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)
Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)
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Iran Imposes Sanctions on 24 Americans as Nuclear Talks Stall

Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)
Smog obscures buildings in Tehran, Iran, 08 April 2022. (EPA)

Iran said on Saturday it had imposed sanctions on 24 more Americans, including former Army Chief of Staff George Casey and former President Donald Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani, as months of talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have stalled.

Almost all the people named were officials who served during Trump's administration, which imposed sanctions on Iranian officials, politicians and companies and withdrew the United States from Iran's nuclear agreement with world powers.

In a statement carried by local media, the Iranian Foreign Ministry accused the sanctioned Americans - who also included several business figures and politicians - of supporting "terrorist groups and terrorist acts" against Iran, and Israel's "repressive acts" in the region and against Palestinians.

Eleven months of indirect talks between Iran and the United States in Vienna on salvaging the 2015 deal have stalled as both sides say political decisions are required by Tehran and Washington to settle the remaining issues.

The sanctions let Iranian authorities seize any assets held by the individuals in Iran, but the apparent absence of such assets means the move will likely be symbolic.

Gen. Austin Scott Miller, former commander of US forces in Afghanistan, former US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and several former ambassadors are among the officials targeted by the new Iranian sanctions.

In a similar move announced in January, Iran imposed sanctions on 51 Americans, many of them from the US military, over the 2020 killing of General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq.

Last year, it imposed sanctions on Trump and several senior US officials.



China' Xi to Visit Russia May 7-10, Kremlin Says

FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a group photo ceremony prior to Outreach/BRICS Plus format session at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 24, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov, Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a group photo ceremony prior to Outreach/BRICS Plus format session at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 24, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov, Pool Photo via AP, File)
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China' Xi to Visit Russia May 7-10, Kremlin Says

FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a group photo ceremony prior to Outreach/BRICS Plus format session at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 24, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov, Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a group photo ceremony prior to Outreach/BRICS Plus format session at the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Oct. 24, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov, Pool Photo via AP, File)

Chinese President Xi Jinping will make an official visit to Russia from May 7-10, where he will participate in celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Kremlin said on Sunday.
In a statement on Telegram, the Kremlin said that Xi will discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin the development of the two countries' strategic partnership, as well as signing a number of documents.
"During the talks, the main issues of further development of relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction, as well as current issues on the international and regional agenda will be discussed," the Kremlin said.
The Soviet Union lost 27 million people in World War Two but pushed Nazi forces back to Berlin, where Hitler committed suicide and the red Soviet Victory Banner was raised over the Reichstag in 1945.
Several other national leaders are expected at the celebrations, including the presidents of Brazil and Serbia, and the prime minister of Slovakia, said Reuters.
Putin has proposed a three day ceasefire with Ukraine around the May 9 celebration, one of the most important in the Russian calendar.
Responding to Moscow's offer of the three-day ceasefire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was ready as long as the ceasefire would be 30 days in length, something Putin had already ruled out in the near term, saying he wants a long-term settlement not a brief pause.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine, given the continued war with Russia, could not guarantee the safety of any foreign dignitaries who came to Moscow for the traditional May 9 victory parade.