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.



Germany Must Honor Visa Obligations to Afghan Refugees, Rules Court

An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
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Germany Must Honor Visa Obligations to Afghan Refugees, Rules Court

An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
An activist depicting Chancellor Friedrich Merz shows a broken "promise" lettering in a symbolic protest action for the continuation of visa issuance under the admission programs for vulnerable Afghans, in connection with the first wave of lawsuits against the Federal Foreign Office and the suspending and reassess all refugee programs of the German government, in Berlin, Germany June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

A German court ruled on Tuesday that the government is obliged to issue visas to Afghan nationals and their family members who were accepted into a humanitarian admissions program that the new center-right coalition intends to shut down.

A foreign ministry official said the government was reviewing the decision, which is not yet legally binding.

After the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 by Western allies, Germany established several programs to resettle local staff as well as particularly vulnerable Afghans.

Since May 2021, Germany has admitted about 36,500 vulnerable Afghans including former local staff by various pathways.

Some 2,400 Afghans approved for admission are waiting in Pakistan to travel to Germany without a clear idea of when, as the programme has been suspended pending a government review, the foreign ministry in Berlin said this month, Reuters reported.

The court decision, in response to an urgent appeal by an Afghan woman and her family, ruled that the government was legally bound to honour its "irrevocable" commitment to them.

"The applicants assert that they are entitled to a visa and can no longer remain in Pakistan. They face deportation to Afghanistan, where they fear for their lives," it said.

However, the government is within its rights to end the program for Afghans and refrain from issuing any new admission commitments going forward, according to the court in Berlin.

NGOs have said that an additional 17,000 Afghans are in the early stages of selection and application under the now-dormant scheme.

The court's decision can be appealed.

Germany's new government has pledged a tougher stance on migration after several high-profile attacks and the rise of the far right made it a pivotal issue in February elections.

As a part of that push, conservative Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has vowed to halt refugee admission programs and to deport people to Afghanistan and Syria.