عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Abdollahian Points to ‘Initiatives’ to Resume Nuclear Negotiations

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Al-Busaidi received his Iranian counterpart and his accompanying delegation, in Muscat on Wednesday. (Oman News)
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Al-Busaidi received his Iranian counterpart and his accompanying delegation, in Muscat on Wednesday. (Oman News)
TT
20
TT

Abdollahian Points to ‘Initiatives’ to Resume Nuclear Negotiations

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Al-Busaidi received his Iranian counterpart and his accompanying delegation, in Muscat on Wednesday. (Oman News)
Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Al-Busaidi received his Iranian counterpart and his accompanying delegation, in Muscat on Wednesday. (Oman News)

Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Hossein Abdollahian announced on Wednesday that his country had heard ideas regarding negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal on Iran, expressing his gratitude for the constructive role of the Sultan of Oman and its sincere intentions in this regard.
 
On the second day of his visit to Oman, which he concluded on Wednesday before heading to Beirut, Abdollahian said that Muscat “always plays a constructive role” in the nuclear talks, adding: “We have held the necessary consultations in this context.”
 
Later on Wednesday, the Omani News Agency quoted Abdollahian as saying that the Sultanate has “serious initiatives” regarding the Iranian nuclear program that “will contribute” to the revival of negotiations.
 
Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Omani and Iranian foreign ministers discussed a number of regional and international issues, and stressed the continuation of “consultation and support for all efforts aimed at consolidating security and stability in the region and encouraging dialogue and peaceful ways to resolve differences.”
 
The Iranian minister pointed to the role of Oman in facilitating the Iranian-Saudi talks and praised its efforts in mediating regional dialogues.

He also welcomed the constructive efforts made by Oman with regard to Yemen, expressing hope that those would lead to the consolidation of peace in the region.
 
Abdollahian continued: “The Islamic Republic of Iran, within the framework of its neighborhood policy and its respect for the principle of good neighborliness, welcomes the restoration of relations with Saudi Arabia and considers this matter to serve the interests of the region.”
 
The two sides also discussed the security developments in the region.

“We have made great progress in the field of energy and cooperation… as well as in trade, economy and investment. Very good matters have happened, and we hope that we will be able to complete them during the upcoming visit of the Sultan of Oman to Tehran,” the Iranian minister said.
 
Iranian sources expect Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, who received an invitation from the Iranian president, to visit Tehran in May. In June 2022, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi paid a one-day visit to Muscat.

Most Viewed

 
World

Iran Says Killed Six ‘Terrorists’ Linked to Israel

Iranians drive past a huge poster in the colors of Iran's flag and reading in Persian "Army sacrifices itself for the nation" at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 18 August 2025. (EPA)
Iranians drive past a huge poster in the colors of Iran's flag and reading in Persian "Army sacrifices itself for the nation" at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 18 August 2025. (EPA)
TT
20
TT

Iran Says Killed Six ‘Terrorists’ Linked to Israel

Iranians drive past a huge poster in the colors of Iran's flag and reading in Persian "Army sacrifices itself for the nation" at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 18 August 2025. (EPA)
Iranians drive past a huge poster in the colors of Iran's flag and reading in Persian "Army sacrifices itself for the nation" at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 18 August 2025. (EPA)

Iranian forces have killed six militants in a raid in the restive southeast, state media reported Saturday, saying they were members of a "terrorist" group linked to arch enemy Israel.

"During an intense exchange of fire with terrorists in Sistan-Baluchistan province, six assailants were killed and two others arrested," official news agency IRNA said, citing a statement from the intelligence services.

The report did not provide an exact location or say when the raid took place.

Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long been a flashpoint for clashes between security forces and armed groups, including drug traffickers and separatists.

IRNA said there were "documents" indicating "the Zionist nature" of the group targeted in the latest raid, adding that its members had planned to attack a "vital" facility in Iran's east, without elaborating.

The report said that "the main operation team" was composed of "seven non-Iranian terrorists", but did not specify their nationality.

Two intelligence agents and a police officer were wounded in the gunfight, IRNA said.

Iran regularly reports deadly ambushes in the province targeting police or members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

On Friday, the Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) group, which Tehran outlaws as a "terrorist" organization, claimed an attack in Sistan-Baluchistan that killed five police officers.

On Sunday, Iranian state media said security forces had killed seven members of another extremist group, Ansar al-Furqan, also in Sistan-Baluchistan.

The province is one of the poorest regions of the country.

World

UK's Farage Sets Out Plan for ‘Mass Deportation’ of Asylum Seekers

An anti-immigrant protestor holds a Union Flag reading "Stop The Boats" during a protest outside the Sheraton Four Points hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, in Horley, south of London, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)
An anti-immigrant protestor holds a Union Flag reading "Stop The Boats" during a protest outside the Sheraton Four Points hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, in Horley, south of London, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20
TT

UK's Farage Sets Out Plan for ‘Mass Deportation’ of Asylum Seekers

An anti-immigrant protestor holds a Union Flag reading "Stop The Boats" during a protest outside the Sheraton Four Points hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, in Horley, south of London, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)
An anti-immigrant protestor holds a Union Flag reading "Stop The Boats" during a protest outside the Sheraton Four Points hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, in Horley, south of London, on August 23, 2025. (AFP)

Former Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage set out plans on Saturday for "mass deportations" of migrants who have crossed the English Channel on small boats if his Reform UK party forms Britain's next government.

In an interview with Saturday's edition of The Times newspaper, Farage said he would withdraw Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights and sign deals with Afghanistan, Eritrea and other top countries of origin to repatriate illegal migrants.

"We can be nice to people, we can be nice to other countries, or we can be very tough to other countries ... I mean (US President Donald) Trump has proved this point quite comprehensively," Farage said.

Asked if he was concerned that asylum seekers would be killed or tortured if they were sent to countries with poor human rights records, Farage said he was more worried about the threat he believed asylum seekers posed to Britons.

"I can't be responsible for despotic regimes all over the world. But I can be responsible for the safety of women and girls on our streets," he said.

Britain has seen regular small-scale protests in recent weeks outside hotels housing asylum seekers, spurred in part by concerns about public safety after some migrants were charged with sexual assault.

Broader opinion polls show that immigration and asylum are the public's greatest concern, just ahead of the economy, and Reform UK - which won five seats at last year's general election - has topped recent voting intention polls.

Last year 37,000 people - mostly from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Vietnam and Eritrea - arrived in Britain from France by crossing the English Channel in small boats. The total was up by a quarter from 2023 and accounted for 9% of net migration.

About two-thirds of people who arrive via small boats and claim asylum are successful and only 3% have been deported, according to figures analyzed by the University of Oxford.

Farage told The Times he would end the right to claim asylum or to challenge deportation for those who arrived by small boats by replacing existing human rights legislation and opting Britain out of refugee treaties, citing a national emergency.

"The aim of this legislation is mass deportations," Farage said, adding that a "massive crisis" caused by asylum seekers was fueling public anger.

The Times said Farage wanted to create holding facilities for 24,000 migrants on air bases at a cost of 2.5 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) and operate five deportation flights a day with total deportations reaching the hundreds of thousands.

If that failed, asylum seekers could be held on Ascension Island, a British territory in the South Atlantic, to send a symbolic message, Farage said.

World

France Summons Italian Ambassador over Challenge to Macron on Ukraine

Italy's Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini speaks during a press conference to announce the approval of the state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, after a meeting at Palazzo Chigi in Rome on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)
Italy's Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini speaks during a press conference to announce the approval of the state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, after a meeting at Palazzo Chigi in Rome on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)
TT
20
TT

France Summons Italian Ambassador over Challenge to Macron on Ukraine

Italy's Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini speaks during a press conference to announce the approval of the state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, after a meeting at Palazzo Chigi in Rome on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)
Italy's Infrastructure Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini speaks during a press conference to announce the approval of the state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, after a meeting at Palazzo Chigi in Rome on August 6, 2025. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

France summoned the Italian ambassador after Italy's deputy prime minister challenged the French president for suggesting that European soldiers be deployed in Ukraine in a post-war settlement, a French diplomatic source said on Saturday.

Asked earlier this week to comment on French President Emmanuel Macron's appeals to deploy European soldiers in Ukraine after any settlement with Russia, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini used a Milanese dialect phrase loosely translatable as "get lost".

"You go there if you want. Put your helmet on, your jacket, your rifle and you go to Ukraine," he told reporters, referring to Macron.

Salvini, the populist leader of the right-wing League party and also Italy's transport minister in the nationalist, conservative government led by Giorgia Meloni, has repeatedly criticized Macron, especially over Ukraine.

The Italian ambassador was summoned on Friday, the diplomatic source said, marking the latest in a series of diplomatic clashes between Paris and Rome before and after Meloni took power in 2022.

"The ambassador was reminded that these remarks ran counter to the climate of trust and the historical relationship between our two countries, as well as to recent bilateral developments, which have highlighted strong convergences between the two countries, particularly with regard to unwavering support for Ukraine," the source said.

Macron, a vocal supporter of Ukraine over its war with Russia, has been working with other world leaders, notably British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, to mobilize support for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.