EU Top Envoy to Iran Nuclear Talks Says Confident Deal Will Be Reachedhttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2981776/eu-top-envoy-iran-nuclear-talks-says-confident-deal-will-be-reached
EU Top Envoy to Iran Nuclear Talks Says Confident Deal Will Be Reached
Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, speaks to the media outside a hotel, during a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission, in Vienna, Austria, May 19, 2021. (Reuters)
EU Top Envoy to Iran Nuclear Talks Says Confident Deal Will Be Reached
Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora, speaks to the media outside a hotel, during a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission, in Vienna, Austria, May 19, 2021. (Reuters)
The EU official leading talks to revive Iran's nuclear deal said on Wednesday he was "quite sure" an agreement would be reached as the negotiations adjourned for a week.
The talks resumed in Vienna on May 7 with the remaining parties to the deal - Iran, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - meeting in the basement of a luxury hotel, and the United States based in another hotel across the street.
Iran has refused to hold direct talks with the United States on how to resume compliance with the deal, which former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, prompting Tehran to begin violating its terms about a year later.
"I am quite sure that there will be a final agreement... I think we are on the right track and we will get an agreement," Enrique Mora, who is coordinating indirect talks between Iran and the United States, told reporters at the end of a fourth round of negotiations in Vienna.
Russia's envoy, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Twitter that participants felt there had been good progress after the latest round and that a deal was "within reach". Ulyanov said he hoped that next week would be the final round.
Asked if he was saying there would be a deal in the next round, Mora said: "I cannot venture such a prediction. What I can venture is that there will be an agreement, yeah, sure."
'Good' progress
Ahead of the meeting, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state TV there had been "good" progress in the talks but "several key issues needed further discussions".
The crux of the original agreement was that Iran committed to rein in its nuclear program to make it harder to obtain the fissile material for a nuclear weapon in return for relief from US, EU and UN sanctions.
"An agreement is shaping up. Now a common understanding on what still needed for US return to #JCPOA, lifting of related sanctions and the resumption of nuclear commitments by Iran," Mora said on Twitter, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Officials have said they hope to reach a deal by May 21, when an agreement between Tehran and the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, on continued monitoring of some Iranian nuclear activities is due to expire.
Mora said Iran was continuing to negotiate with the IAEA on extending that agreement.
Trump Mixes Patriotism with Partisanship as He Celebrates America’s ‘Joyous’ 250th Anniversaryhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5292240-trump-mixes-patriotism-partisanship-he-celebrates-america%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98joyous%E2%80%99-250th
Fireworks light up the DC Skyline as seen from the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, USA, 04 July 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT
Trump Mixes Patriotism with Partisanship as He Celebrates America’s ‘Joyous’ 250th Anniversary
Fireworks light up the DC Skyline as seen from the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, USA, 04 July 2026. (EPA)
President Donald Trump mixed partisan politics with patriotic appeals on Saturday as he commemorated the 250th anniversary of American independence, a moment he declared “one of the most joyous and glorious milestones of all time.”
Speaking in Washington after storms prompted a roughly two-hour evacuation of the National Mall, Trump honored veterans, including several from World War II and one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat in Vietnam. They appeared before flags that symbolized some of the most significant and challenging moments in American history, from the one that was draped over Abraham Lincoln's casket to the one that flew on the plane piloted by the Wright Brothers.
Yet Trump also leaned into partisan territory unusual for an Independence Day address, which presidents typically use as a moment to unify the country. Instead, he stumped again for the SAVE America Act, an elections bill that's encountering challenges even from Trump's fellow Republicans in Congress. He highlighted his support for the Second Amendment and revived denunciations of communism, which are becoming an increasingly central part of Trump's message ahead of the November midterms.
The speech capped a holiday that Trump has gone to great lengths to shape to his own tastes. He was introduced by two musical performers who often appear at his trademark rallies, including Lee Greenwood, who performed “God Bless the USA.” The event organizers were largely aligned with the White House, supplanting a bipartisan organization that was launched by Congress a decade ago.
“We will always be on top,” Trump said. "We will never let our country fall. We will always be the best.”
Trump didn’t talk about himself as much as he does during his normal rally speeches. Still, he still found time to include a joke about seeking a third presidential term and about World War II’s “greatest generation.”
“They are the greatest generation,” Trump said. “I hate to admit that, but they are.”
Anticipation for the milestone holiday has been building for much of the year, serving as an opportunity for Americans to reflect on their complicated history as onetime colonists of an empire who became a superpower of their own. Organizers of celebrations months in the making had to adjust or cancel activities entirely as much of the East Coast sweltered under heat that approached and in many cases surpassed triple digits.
Severe weather prompted the cancellation of celebrations in Hartford, Connecticut, along with Harrisburg and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Spectators at Boston’s fireworks and concert were told to briefly seek shelter before events later resumed. An evacuation was also ordered in Philadelphia. New York and Pittsburgh moved forward with fireworks but shifted the time to accommodate the shifting weather.
President Donald Trump raises his fist while speaking at "Salute to America 250" Fourth of July celebrations on the National Mall on July 04, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images/AFP)
The disruption was particularly acute in Washington, where signs at the Great American State Fair posted an alert shortly after 7 p.m. ET encouraging participants to leave the area. Crowds gathered in museums, subway stations and federal buildings near the Mall. At the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center they waited in chairs and sat on the floor to cool off in the air conditioning.
Crowds were building in the area several hours before the evacuation. Tina Hale, 58, of Cohoes, New York, watched three of her grandchildren children dip their hands into a pool of water near a museum. Hale pointed toward the sky and urged them to look up as three military jets roared above the crowd.
“If that doesn’t make you proud to be an American,” she said.
David Koshko, 42, and his wife, Jennifer Koskho, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, came to Washington for a baseball game but planned to stay for the city’s fireworks show. After baking in the heat for hours during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ win over the Washington Nationals, they took a break in the shade of an overpass near the National Mall to plot their next stop.
“Just to be a part of the 250 years (anniversary) is an amazing thing,” said David Koshko, a commercial driver and veteran of the Marine Corps reserves.
In Philadelphia, fireworks began to crack as early as midday in the birthplace of the nation near the site where the Declaration of Independence was adopted by delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Hundreds of visitors were gathering at Independence Hall in the sweltering heat to await the celebrations coinciding with the France-Paraguay World Cup knockout game at Philadelphia Stadium, which began with commemorations of the holiday.
“It’s one big party in here,” Carlos Alban, who traveled to Philadelphia from Chicago to watch the match, said as he arrived at the stadium, adding that he spotted a fan in the parking lot dressed as one of the Founding Fathers.
In New York, tall ships, with their masts, rigging and white sails outlined against a blue sky, made a procession around the Statue of Liberty and up the Hudson River, recalling the fanfare around America’s 200th anniversary in 1976.
The 43 ships were followed by a display of aerial might with a stealth bomber and the Navy's Blue Angels. Patrouille de France, the French Air Force's acrobatic teams, flew over New York Harbor with their red, white and blue trails, evoking images of the American flag.
“We got up early and just rode our bikes about a mile down here to come see the scene,” said Oona Moore, a Jersey City, New Jersey, resident who took in the New York festivities. “We saw the tall ships and we saw the planes, you know, all different manner of military aircraft. I’ve never seen it so close and in the sky at the same time.”
At George Washington's Mount Vernon, people took the Oath of Allegiance to become US citizens. They stood with eyes closed and hands over hearts for the national anthem.
In Phoenix, Steven Dortch, 25, and his brother JayLn Dortch, 23, gathered at Granada Park to try to forge a new July 4 cookout tradition. JayLn Dortch said young people in the US give him hope by thinking for themselves and not taking the words from older people at face value.
He said the country needs to keep in mind the everyday, hardworking people who “keep America going.”
Prayers Offered for Iran's Khamenei on Day Two of Funeral Ceremonieshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5292239-prayers-offered-irans-khamenei-day-two-funeral-ceremonies
Mourners gather at the Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects to Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of his funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 4, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
Prayers Offered for Iran's Khamenei on Day Two of Funeral Ceremonies
Mourners gather at the Grand Mosalla to pay their final respects to Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of his funeral ceremonies in Tehran on July 4, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) /
Prayers were held Sunday over the casket of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the second day of funeral ceremonies that have drawn huge crowds to pay their final respects in Tehran.
Khamenei ruled the Iranian republic from 1989 until he was killed aged 86 in an airstrike on the first day of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.
Sunday's service at Tehran's Grand Mosalla complex was led by prominent Shia cleric Ja'far Sobhani, a 97-year-old scholar who teaches in seminaries at the holy city of Qom.
Khamenei's son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who is said to have been wounded in the February 28 attack, has not appeared in public since being named supreme leader and was notably absent from the funeral prayers.
The late supreme leader's other three sons, Masoud, Mostafa and Meysam, were in attendance.
Sunday was declared a public holiday across Iran, and later in the day, Khamenei's body will be moved from the Grand Mosalla complex where it is lying in state in preparation for processions through the capital on Monday.
The vast religious complex and surrounding streets were packed with mourners on Sunday morning, AFP journalists saw.
With temperatures set to exceed 35C, mourners carrying Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei, as they made their way to the Grand Mosalla, were handed refreshments.
President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremony alongside senior officials including parliament speaker and Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, state television footage showed.
Khamenei's coffin, draped in the Iranian flag and topped with his black turban, was placed alongside the coffins of four relatives also killed in the February strikes, including an infant granddaughter.
Authorities have said they expect more than 10 million people to take part in ceremonies in Tehran.
- Allies in attendance -
After five weeks of intense hostilities, the Middle East war is on hold after a ceasefire and an initial accord with the US. But both Washington and Tehran have warned they are ready to resume fighting at any time.
Khamenei's funeral is being viewed outside Iran as a test of support for the government following mass protests before the war in January that rights groups say were quelled by a crackdown that left thousands dead.
"What is observed today in the emotions, tears, and passionate presence of the people in various scenes is the most telling sign of his position among the Iranian nation and the free people of the world," Pezeshkian said in a speech Saturday, accusing Israel in particular of acting as a "destabilizing factor" in the Middle East.
"Muslims have shown that they will not surrender to oppression and bullying," he added.
Khamenei had long pursued a course of confrontation with the West, and Tehran for years has provided support to anti-US and anti-Israel armed groups around the region, including Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Delegations from both groups met with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday, state media reported, while representatives of Yemen's Houthis and Hamas ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also in attendance at the funeral.
After Monday's procession, Khamenei's coffin will be moved on Tuesday to Qom, then on Wednesday to neighboring Iraq, before the burial on Thursday in his northeastern hometown of Mashhad.
Significant security measures have been imposed in the capital, and official media has warned attendees of the risk of crowd crushes.
Organizers have also taken measures to mitigate a heatwave that may nudge 40C in Tehran over the next few days, with crowds on Saturday sprayed with mists of water to keep cool at the Grand Mosalla complex.
Trump Offers to Help Putin Find Deal with Ukraine, Also Speaks with Zelenskiyhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5292237-trump-offers-help-putin-find-deal-ukraine-also-speaks-zelenskiy
FILE - US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
Trump Offers to Help Putin Find Deal with Ukraine, Also Speaks with Zelenskiy
FILE - US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
US President Donald Trump, speaking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin by telephone for nearly 90 minutes, offered to help find a solution to the Ukraine war, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in comments made public early on Sunday.
Ushakov said Trump made the offer during the call on Saturday, US Independence Day, in the context of his participation next week at the NATO summit in Türkiye, Reuters reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he also spoke to Trump.
"The American president once again confirmed his readiness to work towards a rapid end to the fighting and find solutions to overcome the crisis," Ushakov said of Trump's call with the Russian president.
Ushakov, who described the conversation as "business-like and quite constructive," said Russia sought "a political-diplomatic resolution of the conflict, with due account of Russia's fundamental approach."
Ushakov accused Kyiv and its European allies of "counting on extending and even escalating the conflict, and on terrorism against civilians."
He was referring to Ukraine's long-range strikes on Russian targets, mainly linked to the oil industry, which have triggered fuel shortages in several Russian regions.
Ushakov said Putin "depicted the real situation on the battlefield where the Russian armed forces are confidently advancing, liberating one locality after another."
Russian commanders told Putin on Friday that Moscow's troops had captured the strategically important city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. On Saturday, Zelenskiy and Ukraine's General Staff dismissed that claim, saying Kyiv's forces still controlled the city.
Russia has said any solution must include Moscow assuming full control over Ukraine's Donbas region.
Ukraine rejects that assertion and Zelenskiy urged Putin last month to hold a one-on-one meeting with him, but the Kremlin leader refused.
US ENVOYS
Ushakov quoted Trump as saying that Washington's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, would keep trying to broker a settlement and were prepared to make another visit to Moscow. US diplomatic efforts have virtually stalled as Washington is focused on the war with Iran.
Ushakov said Putin expressed hope during the conversation that US diplomatic efforts in the Iran conflict would "allow for mutually acceptable long-term solutions to be found on key issues of a settlement."
Ushakov said Putin also reminded Trump that he had an open invitation to visit Moscow.
Zelenskiy, writing on his Telegram account, described his conversation with the US president as "very good," including a discussion on the war's 1,200-km (746-mile) front line.
"There is a real prospect to end this war and American resolve will have a crucial meaning," he said. Zelenskiy said he and Trump agreed to continue discussions at the NATO meeting.
لم تشترك بعد
انشئ حساباً خاصاً بك لتحصل على أخبار مخصصة لك ولتتمتع بخاصية حفظ المقالات وتتلقى نشراتنا البريدية المتنوعة
