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Rubio Trip to Israel on Iran Tensions 'Subject to Change'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
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Rubio Trip to Israel on Iran Tensions 'Subject to Change'

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio waves as he departs at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio may push back a trip to Israel in which he is expected to speak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about potential strikes on Iran, a US official said Monday.

"Secretary Rubio is still planning to travel to Israel but the schedule remains subject to change," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Rubio had earlier been expected to meet Netanyahu on Saturday, but Israeli media reports said he was now expected in the country on Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier told CBS News that he expected new talks on Thursday with the United States and held out hope for progress.

President Donald Trump has sent a major deployment of air and sea power to the Middle East and has threatened to strike Iran if it does not reach a deal on key concerns starting with its nuclear program.

Netanyahu has long advocated a hard line on Iran's clerical state and last June ordered a 12-day bombing campaign inside the country, which the United States briefly joined.

Netanyahu visited Washington on February 11 to speak with Trump, who said afterward that he "insisted" on giving time for diplomacy.

Iran has publicly insisted that it has a right to uranium enrichment.

The United States and Israel have threatened new military action against Iran after mass protests against the Islamic republic, which authorities crushed at a cost of thousands of lives.

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World

Iran President: US Memorandum is Best Path Out of Stalled War

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Presidential Office shows Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian attending a press conference in the capital Tehran, on August 8, 2026. (Photo by Iranian Presidential Office / AFP) /
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Presidential Office shows Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian attending a press conference in the capital Tehran, on August 8, 2026. (Photo by Iranian Presidential Office / AFP) /
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Iran President: US Memorandum is Best Path Out of Stalled War

A handout photo made available by the Iranian Presidential Office shows Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian attending a press conference in the capital Tehran, on August 8, 2026. (Photo by Iranian Presidential Office / AFP) /
A handout photo made available by the Iranian Presidential Office shows Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian attending a press conference in the capital Tehran, on August 8, 2026. (Photo by Iranian Presidential Office / AFP) /

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a recent memorandum of understanding as the best way for the country to move beyond what he described as a situation of “neither war nor peace.”

In a speech published by state-run IRNA early on Sunday, he said members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council believed the memorandum represented the best possible agreement based on what he described as dignity, wisdom and the national interest.

“There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation,” Pezeshkian said. “The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.”

The deal known as the Memorandum of Understanding that US President Donald Trump signed in June set an ambitious 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program.

That period ended last week, but the two sides remain far apart, with no signs of compromise on the crucial issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global shipping.

While stressing that Tehran did not intend to back down in the face of its adversaries, Pezeshkian also linked the agreement to Iran’s economic prospects, saying the country could not attract investment in this stalled phase.

“Capital and money are extremely sensitive to risk,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying. “We have to remove this risk from the country.”

Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, the Iranian economy is suffering under sanctions and a naval blockade that is making it extremely difficult for the country to export oil, its most valuable product.

Meanwhile, the hard-line new leader of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, threatened Tehran’s neighbors against joining the new US effort to hurt Iran’s economy.

“If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner,” he said in an interview with the state broadcaster that aired Saturday.

Rezaei was named this month as part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehran’s political and military stance. His interview with IRIB is his most extensive public statement since then.

World

Iran Executes Man Accused of Aiding US, Israel in Anti-govt Protests

An Iranian man reads a copy of the Iranian daily newspaper Hamshahri displaying a picture of US President Donald Trump and a title reading in Persian, 'The empty gun of sanctions,' reporting the new harsh economic threat by Trump against Iran, outside a kiosk in Tehran, Iran, 22 August 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An Iranian man reads a copy of the Iranian daily newspaper Hamshahri displaying a picture of US President Donald Trump and a title reading in Persian, 'The empty gun of sanctions,' reporting the new harsh economic threat by Trump against Iran, outside a kiosk in Tehran, Iran, 22 August 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
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Iran Executes Man Accused of Aiding US, Israel in Anti-govt Protests

An Iranian man reads a copy of the Iranian daily newspaper Hamshahri displaying a picture of US President Donald Trump and a title reading in Persian, 'The empty gun of sanctions,' reporting the new harsh economic threat by Trump against Iran, outside a kiosk in Tehran, Iran, 22 August 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
An Iranian man reads a copy of the Iranian daily newspaper Hamshahri displaying a picture of US President Donald Trump and a title reading in Persian, 'The empty gun of sanctions,' reporting the new harsh economic threat by Trump against Iran, outside a kiosk in Tehran, Iran, 22 August 2026. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH

Iran on Sunday executed a man accused of carrying a chainsaw during January anti-government protests who was charged with acting as an agent of Israel and the United States.

The judiciary said Majid Adineh had been convicted of "operational action in favor of hostile groups" in nationwide rallies that broke out late last year.

He is one of a string of people put to death over the protests, which were sparked by economic hardships in Iran.

Adineh was accused of "deliberate arson, gathering and collusion with the intention of committing crimes against the country's internal security,” AFP quoted the judiciary's Mizan Online website as saying in a report Sunday.

"Based on numerous documents and evidence in the case and the defendant's statements, the Karaj Revolutionary Court sentenced him to death and confiscation of all his property."

An appeal by Adineh was unsuccessful and the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, with his execution carried out Sunday morning, Mizan said.

He and another suspect were arrested on January 9 in Alborz province, west of Tehran, carrying "a revolver, ammunition, two tasers, two tear gas canisters, a rechargeable chainsaw, and a bottle of gasoline," Mizan added.

The protest movement was initially sparked in late December by grievances over high living costs but rapidly evolved into widespread anti-government demonstrations that peaked on January 8 and 9.

Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths from the unrest, attributing the violence to "terrorist acts" orchestrated by the United States and Israel.

The number of executions in Iran has risen since the start of the Middle East war, which broke out on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes against Iran.

A large number of the executions have been linked to the protests, with other cases related to the war.

Iranian authorities executed at least 1,639 people last year, a record high since 1989, according to Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway, and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), which is headquartered in Paris.

World

Iran: Pakistan's Army Chief to Visit Tehran on Monday

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks by a mural depicting Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran, Iran, August 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks by a mural depicting Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran, Iran, August 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran: Pakistan's Army Chief to Visit Tehran on Monday

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks by a mural depicting Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran, Iran, August 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A woman walks by a mural depicting Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran, Iran, August 13, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir will visit Tehran on Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on ⁠Sunday, according to ⁠a statement by the ministry.

Baghaei said the visit ⁠was in continuation of Pakistan's efforts to strengthen peace and security in the region.

Pakistan has taken on the mediator ⁠role ⁠in negotiations between Iran and the US aimed at ending their war.

The top diplomats for Egypt and Iran discussed efforts to bring Tehran and Washington back to the negotiating table to settle the war, Egypt's foreign ministry said Saturday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefed his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, about “Iran’s view of ongoing developments, the course of negotiations and their challenges,” the ministry said, without elaborating.

Araghchi confirmed the call. Separately, Araghchi said he had a call with Munir.