Iran's Khamenei Says 'Nothing Wrong' with a Nuclear Deal with West

FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran November 2, 2022. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran November 2, 2022. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran's Khamenei Says 'Nothing Wrong' with a Nuclear Deal with West

FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran November 2, 2022. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran November 2, 2022. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran's supreme leader said on Sunday that reaching a deal with the West over Tehran's disputed nuclear work was possible if the country's nuclear infrastructure remained intact, state media quoted Ali Khamenei as saying.

"There is nothing wrong with the agreement (with the West), but the infrastructure of our nuclear industry should not be touched," he said, adding that Tehran should continue working with the UN nuclear watchdog under the framework of safeguards, said Reuters.

Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington to revive Iran's 2015 nuclear accord with six major powers have been at a stalemate since September, with both sides accusing each other of making unreasonable demands.

In 2019, Iran began breaching the deal's terms in response to a US withdrawal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.

The 2015 agreement limited Iran’s uranium enrichment activity to make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms, in return for lifting international sanctions. Iran denies wanting to acquire nuclear weapons.

Both Tehran and Washington on Thursday denied a report that they were nearing an interim deal under which Tehran would curb its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.



France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025.  EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
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France Plans to Take Iran to Int’l Court over Citizen Detentions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025.  EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (R) during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels, Belgium, 03 April 2025. EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

Two French citizens held in Iran for almost three years have not had consular services for more than a year prompting Paris to prepare a complaint at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), France's foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been held since May 2022. Iranian state television aired a video later that year with them appearing to confess to acting on behalf of French intelligence services, something categorically denied by Paris.
Held in Tehran's Evin prison, France has accused Iran of keeping them in conditions akin to torture.
French officials have toughened their language towards Iran, notably over the advancement of its nuclear program and regional activities, but also the detention of European citizens in the country.
Speaking after a rare cabinet meeting to broadly discuss Iran on Wednesday, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot indicated Paris would soon take the matter of violating the right to consular protection to the ICJ.
"We are putting together a complaint that we will file at the ICJ," Foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a news conference on Thursday, adding that the Kohler and Paris were being held in "shocking" conditions.
According to Reuters, Lemoine declined to say when it would be filed and acknowledged that procedures at the ICJ were long, but insisted that Tehran needed to be called out on the issue because the embassy and consulate had not had access to their citizens for more than a year.
"It's in violation of Iran's obligations," he said, citing the Vienna convention on consular relations.
In recent years, Iran's Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.
Rights groups have accused Iran of trying to extract concessions from other countries through such arrests.
Iran, which does not recognize dual nationality, denies taking prisoners to gain diplomatic leverage.