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Iranian President Says US Not Sincere over Readiness to Engage

An Iranian cleric holds balloons as they celebrate the 46th anniversary of the 1979 revolution in Tehran, Iran, 10 February 2025. (EPA)
An Iranian cleric holds balloons as they celebrate the 46th anniversary of the 1979 revolution in Tehran, Iran, 10 February 2025. (EPA)
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Iranian President Says US Not Sincere over Readiness to Engage

An Iranian cleric holds balloons as they celebrate the 46th anniversary of the 1979 revolution in Tehran, Iran, 10 February 2025. (EPA)
An Iranian cleric holds balloons as they celebrate the 46th anniversary of the 1979 revolution in Tehran, Iran, 10 February 2025. (EPA)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday questioned the United States' sincerity in seeking negotiations with Tehran as crowds of people, many chanting "Death to America", rallied across the country to mark the anniversary of the 1979 revolution.

US President Donald Trump last week restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump said however that he would like to have a verified nuclear peace agreement with Tehran and expressed a willingness to talk to Pezeshkian, who said last week it would be easy to verify Iran was not developing atomic weapons.

Pezeshkian, in a televised speech at Tehran's Azadi (Freedom) Square on Monday, adopted a harsh tone: "If the US were sincere about negotiations, why did they sanction us?"

He said Tehran "does not seek war...but will not yield to foreign pressure".

Iranian state television showed hundreds of thousands of people turning out to mark the anniversary of the revolution in a rally the clerical establishment billed as a chance to show unity amid mounting US and Israel pressure.

"Death to America," and "Death to Israel," shouted demonstrators in cities and towns across Iran, repeating the ritual chant of the revolution which toppled the US-backed Shah and swept the clergy to power.

State media published a picture depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump wearing prison uniforms and standing inside a metal cage. Another picture showed some marchers hanging an effigy of Trump by a noose.

On Friday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that talks with the US were "not smart, wise, or honorable", but he stopped short of renewing a ban on direct talks with Washington decreed during the first Trump administration in 2018.

During his previous term in office in 2018, Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.

Iran's currency fell on Monday to an all-time low of 932,500 to the dollar on the unofficial market compared with 869,500 rials on Friday, according to the foreign exchange website alanchand.com.

Last month, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told Reuters that Iran is "pressing the gas pedal" on its enrichment of uranium to near weapons grade. Iran, which has breached the 2015 pact's nuclear curbs, has long said its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

"No country negotiates under pressure and coercion unless it intends to surrender, especially when we remember a history of unfulfilled promises from Washington," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told state TV.

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World

Venezuela's Machado Says Ally 'Kidnapped' after His Release

Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
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Venezuela's Machado Says Ally 'Kidnapped' after His Release

Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Venezuelan political leader Juan Pablo Guanipa gestures after their release outside Zona 7 prison in Caracas on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

Venezuela's Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado said on Monday that armed men "kidnapped" a close ally shortly after his release by authorities, following ex-leader Nicolas Maduro's capture.

The country's Public Prosecutor's Office confirmed later that same day that former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa, 61, was again taken into custody and to be put under house arrest, arguing that he violated the conditions of his release.

Guanipa would be placed under house arrest "in order to safeguard the criminal process," the office said in a statement on Monday. The conditions of Guanipa's release have yet to be made public.

Machado claimed that her close ally had been "kidnapped" in the capital Caracas by armed men "dressed in civilian clothes" who took him away by force.

"We demand his immediate release," she wrote on social media platform X.

The arrest came after his release from prison on Sunday along with two other opposition figures, and as lawmakers prepared to vote Tuesday on a historic amnesty law covering charges used to lock up dissidents in almost three decades of socialist rule, reported AFP.

Shortly after his release, Guanipa visited several detention centers in Caracas, where he met with relatives of political prisoners and spoke to the press.

Guanipa had appeared earlier Sunday in a video posted on his X account, showing what looked like his release papers.

"Here we are, being released," Guanipa said in the video, adding that he had spent "10 months in hiding, almost nine months detained here" in Caracas.

- 'Let's go to an electoral process' -

Speaking to AFP later on Sunday, he had called on the government to respect the 2024 presidential election, which opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was widely considered to have won. Maduro claimed victory and remained in power till January.

"Let's respect it. That's the basic thing, that's the logical thing. Oh, you don't want to respect it? Then let's go to an electoral process," Guanipa said.

The opposition ally of Machado was arrested in May 2025, in connection with an alleged conspiracy to undermine legislative and regional elections that were boycotted by the opposition.

He was charged with terrorism, money laundering and incitement to violence and hatred.

Guanipa had been in hiding prior to his arrest. He was last seen in public in January 2025, when he accompanied Machado to an anti-Maduro rally.

Following Maduro's capture by US special forces on January 3, authorities have started to slowly release political prisoners. Rights groups estimate that around 700 people are still waiting to be freed.

A former Machado legal advisor, Perkins Rocha, was also freed on Sunday. So was Freddy Superlano, who once won a gubernatorial election in Barinas, a city that is the home turf of the iconic late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

"We hugged at home," Rocha's wife Maria Constanza Cipriani wrote on X, with a photo of them.

Machado, who was awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to advance democracy in Venezuela, had initially celebrated Guanipa's release.

"My dear Juan Pablo, counting down the minutes until I can hug you! You are a hero, and history will ALWAYS recognize it. Freedom for ALL political prisoners!!" she wrote on X on Sunday.

NGO Foro Penal said it had confirmed the release of 35 prisoners on Sunday. It said that since January 8 nearly 400 people arrested for political reasons have been freed thus far.

Lawmakers gave their initial backing to a draft amnesty last week which covered the types of crimes used to lock up dissidents during 27 years of socialist rule.

But Venezuela's largest opposition coalition denounced "serious omissions" in the proposed amnesty measures on Friday.

Meanwhile, relatives of prisoners are growing increasingly impatient for their loved ones to be freed.

Acting president Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro's vice president, is pushing the amnesty bill as a milestone on the path to reconciliation.

Rodriguez took power in Venezuela with the blessing of US President Donald Trump, who is eyeing American access to what are the world's largest proven oil reserves.

As part of its reforms, Rodriguez's government has taken steps towards opening up the oil industry and restoring diplomatic ties with Washington, which were severed by Maduro in 2019.

World

SKorea Grounds Aging Attack Choppers after Fatal Training Crash

South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
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SKorea Grounds Aging Attack Choppers after Fatal Training Crash

South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS
South Korean military officials secure the site where an AH-1S Cobra attack helicopter crashed in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 9, 2026. Yonhap via REUTERS

South Korea grounded an aging fleet of military helicopters on Monday after a chopper crashed during a training exercise and killed two people on board.

The AH-1S Cobra was training for emergency landings when it "crashed due to an unidentified cause" in Gapyeong county west of Seoul, the army said in a statement.

Two service members were taken to hospital and later pronounced dead, AFP reported.

Photos in local media showed the helicopter's crumpled fuselage lying on a rocky river bank.

"Following the accident, the Army has suspended operations of all aircraft of the same model" and is investigating the cause, the forces said.

The AH-1S Cobra is a US-made, single-engine anti-tank attack helicopter.

Some of those used by South Korea's military are more than 30 years old. It is not clear how many are currently in service.

The country's defense acquisition agency said in 2022 that the Army's Cobra helicopters were "scheduled to be retired" as domestically developed light-armed choppers started flying.

World

Japan Restarts World's Biggest Nuclear Plant Again

Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
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Japan Restarts World's Biggest Nuclear Plant Again

Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
Participants demonstrate in front of Tokyo Electric Power Company's headquarters against the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, in Tokyo on February 9, 2026. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Japan switched on the world's biggest nuclear power plant again on Monday, its operator said, after an earlier attempt was quickly suspended due to a minor glitch.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in the Niigata region restarted at 2:00 pm (0500 GMT), AFP quoted the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as saying in a statement.

A glitch with an alarm in January forced the suspension of its first restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The facility had been offline since Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown.

But now Japan is turning to atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.

Conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who pulled off a thumping election victory on Sunday, has promoted nuclear power to energize the Asian economic giant.

TEPCO initially moved to start one of seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant on January 21 but shut it off the following day after an alarm from the monitoring system sounded.

The alarm had picked up slight changes to the electrical current in one cable even though these were still within a range considered safe, TEPCO officials told a press conference last week.

The firm has changed the alarm's settings as the reactor is safe to operate.
The commercial operation will commence on or after March 18 after another comprehensive inspection, according to TEPCO officials.