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Macron Hopeful of Iran Nuclear Deal in Next Few Days

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting on education at the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France August 25, 2022. Mohammed Badra/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting on education at the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France August 25, 2022. Mohammed Badra/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Macron Hopeful of Iran Nuclear Deal in Next Few Days

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting on education at the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France August 25, 2022. Mohammed Badra/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a meeting on education at the amphitheater of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France August 25, 2022. Mohammed Badra/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

France's president said on Thursday he hoped a deal to revive the Iran nuclear deal would be concluded in the coming days.

"I hope that in the next few days the JCPOA will be concluded," Emmanuel Macron said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as the deal is formally known, in a speech to French ambassadors.

Iran needs stronger guarantees from Washington for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, its foreign minister said in Moscow on Wednesday, adding that the UN atomic watchdog should drop its "politically motivated probes" of Tehran's nuclear work.

After 16 months of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Aug. 8 the EU had laid down a final offer to overcome an impasse for the revival of the agreement.

Iran's top diplomat, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said Tehran was carefully reviewing Washington's response to the text, which was conveyed to Iran last week by the EU as coordinator of the nuclear talks.

"Iran is carefully reviewing the EU-drafted text ... We need stronger guarantees from the other party to have a sustainable deal," Amirabdollahian told a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart in Moscow.

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32 Killed in New Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
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32 Killed in New Sectarian Violence in Pakistan

Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN
Police officers stand guard near their vehicles during a protest by Pakistani Shiite Muslims against an attack on passenger vehicles in Kurram, in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, 22 November 2024. EPA/SAOOD REHMAN

At least 32 people were killed and 47 wounded in sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan, an official told AFP on Saturday, two days after attacks on Shiite passenger convoys killed 43.

Sporadic fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan has killed around 150 over the past months.

"Fighting between Shiite and Sunni communities continues at multiple locations. According to the latest reports, 32 people have been killed which include 14 Sunnis and 18 Shiites," a senior administrative official told AFP on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

On Thursday, gunmen opened fire on two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims travelling with police escort in Kurram, killing 43 while 11 wounded are still in "critical condition", officials told AFP.

In retaliation Shiite Muslims on Friday evening attacked several Sunni locations in the Kurram district, once a semi-autonomous region, where sectarian violence has resulted in the deaths of hundreds over the years.

"Around 7 pm (1400 GMT), a group of enraged Shiite individuals attacked the Sunni-dominated Bagan Bazaar," a senior police officer stationed in Kurram told AFP.

"After firing, they set the entire market ablaze and entered nearby homes, pouring petrol and setting them on fire. Initial reports suggest over 300 shops and more than 100 houses have been burned," he said.

Local Sunnis "also fired back at the attackers", he added.

Javedullah Mehsud, a senior official in Kurram said there were "efforts to restore peace ... (through) the deployment of security forces" and with the help of "local elders".

After Thursday's attacks that killed 43, including seven women and three children, thousands of Shiite Muslims took to the streets in various cities of Pakistan on Friday.

Several hundred people demonstrated in Lahore, Pakistan's second city and Karachi, the country's commercial hub.

In Parachinar, the main town of Kurram district, thousands participated in a sit-in, while hundreds attended the funerals of the victims, mainly Shiite civilians.