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Zelenskiy, Erdogan to Discuss Grain Deal, Prisoner Swaps

HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa
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Zelenskiy, Erdogan to Discuss Grain Deal, Prisoner Swaps

HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa

The presidents of Ukraine and Türkiye will discuss on Friday the potential extension of the Black Sea grain deal and a possible prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv, a senior Turkish official said ahead of the talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul following visits to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, part of a tour of some NATO capitals aimed at encouraging them to take concrete steps at a summit next week towards granting Kyiv membership of the alliance, Reuters said.
A key element of Zelenskiy's talks in Istanbul will be the fate of a deal, brokered last year by Türkiye and the United Nations, to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea despite the war raging across Ukraine.
Russia, angry about aspects of the grain deal's implementation, has threatened not to allow its further extension beyond July 17.
As well as the grain deal and a possible prisoner swap, Erdogan and Zelenskiy will also discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the senior Turkish official said.
Türkiye, a NATO member, has managed to retain cordial relations with both Russia and Ukraine over the past 16 months of the war and last year it helped to broker prisoner exchanges.
Türkiye has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and called for its sovereignty to be respected.
Erdogan and Zelenskiy are scheduled to hold a press conference at 1800 GMT on Friday.
The Turkish official said Erdogan might hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin following his talks with Zelenskiy. A Turkish minister could also visit Moscow for further discussions, the official added.

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Iran Rejects International Pressure Over its Nuclear Program

Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif speaks during the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2025. Reuters 
Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif speaks during the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2025. Reuters 
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Iran Rejects International Pressure Over its Nuclear Program

Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif speaks during the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2025. Reuters 
Iran's Vice-President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif speaks during the 55th annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2025. Reuters 

Iran on Thursday rejected international pressure over its accelerating nuclear program, which is close to nearly weapons-grade levels, while its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the UN chief’s call for his country to renounce nuclear weapons, as “audacious.”

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Iran must make a first step towards improving relations with countries in the region and the United States by making it clear it does not aim to develop nuclear weapons.

“My hope is that the Iranians understand that it is important to once and for all make it clear that they will renounce to have nuclear weapons, at the same time that they engage constructively with the other countries of the region,” Guterres said as he discussed the situation in the Middle East at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The UN nuclear watchdog chief, Rafael Grossi, touched on the same theme in Davos, saying Iran is “pressing the gas pedal” on its enrichment of uranium to near weapons grade.

Asked how crucial the dialogue between Tehran and Trump is right now, Grossi replied: “Absolutely indispensable.”

Grossi said last month that Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it would “dramatically” accelerate enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% of weapons grade.

He said Iran is now producing more than 30 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60% and that it had about 200 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60%.

In a post on X, Araghchi wrote, “It is audacious to preach that Iranians must ‘once and for all make it clear that they will renounce to have nuclear weapons’,” without mentioning the name of the UN Chief.

“Iran's longstanding commitment to the global nonproliferation regime is clear,” the Foreign Minister said, noting that his country has signed the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) in 1968 as a founding member.

Araghchi then pointed to a fatwa (religious decree) by Leader of the Iranian Revolution that bans the production, possession and stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) including nuclear weapons.

He added that in 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA which imposed the most intrusive inspection regime in IAEA history.

The FM posted a statement from the nuclear deal which states that “Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.”

“This is a permanent and clear commitment which Iran has remained committed to—even after the US unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018,” Araghchi said in his post.

The Iranian foreign minister also said that the most relevant question regarding the region is Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, as well as the regime's occupation of Palestinian, the Syrian and Lebanese territories.”

He then warned of the threat posed by Israel's nuclear arsenal and its refusal to join the NPT.

“This must not be normalized or whitewashed,” the FM wrote.

The statements came one week after Araghchi’s deputies had warned their counterparts in Germany, France and the UK regarding the potential misuse of the snapback mechanism relating to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which could reinstate suspended sanctions on Iran.

Earlier, western media said Tehran signaled it would withdraw from the nuclear treaty if the so-called snapback mechanism is renewed and has even threatened to change the course of its nuclear program.

In a meeting with Guterres in Lisbon last November, Araghchi warned about an ongoing debate in Iran over whether to change the nuclear doctrine in the face of the West's continued sanctions on the Iranian Republic.

He then noted that if European countries were to reimpose sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council, it would convince everyone in Iran that Tehran’s current doctrine had been mistaken.

Trump 2.0

On Wednesday, Iran’s vice-president for strategic affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif, dismissed the idea that Tehran sought nuclear arms, and signalled support for the idea of talks to improve relations between Iran and its critics in the West.

“There's always hope that people will choose rationality. I hope that this time around, a 'Trump 2' will be more serious, more focused, more realistic,” Zarif told a panel, adding the Iran did not pose a security threat to the world.

“Now, for us, is the time to move forward. We have been looking at our surroundings as a threat, because of our history. Now ... Nobody thinks of Iran as such an easy place to carry out their whims. So, we can move forward, based on opportunity, rather than based on threats. So, let's talk about that,” he said.

Iran's main concern is the potential for Trump to reimposes his “maximum pressure policy” through more sanctions on its oil.

On Wednesday, two US officials gave preliminary outlines of the new US administration’s policy toward Iran, including its readiness to activate the “snapback” mechanism at the UN Security Council.

Trump's pick for UN Ambassador, Elise Stefanik, said she supports the suggestion of newly sworn-in secretary of state Marco Rubio to activate the “snapback” of UN sanctions on Iran.