Iran Says US Should Explain Links to Convicted Dual National Sharmahd 

A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering "Free Jamshid" during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)
A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering "Free Jamshid" during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)
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Iran Says US Should Explain Links to Convicted Dual National Sharmahd 

A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering "Free Jamshid" during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)
A demonstrator holds a picture of Iranian-German Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death in Iran, and with the lettering "Free Jamshid" during a demonstration for his release in front of the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin on July 31, 2023. (AFP)

The United States should explain its links to the Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd sentenced to death in Iran, Tehran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, adding that progress had been made in a prisoner swap deal with Washington.

Nasser Kanaani's remarks came after a US envoy for Iran, Abram Paley, met on Friday with the family of Sharmahd, who was convicted of heading a pro-monarchist group accused of a deadly bombing in 2008.

Sharmahd, who also has US residency, was sentenced to death by an Iranian Revolutionary court in February on charges of "corruption on earth".

His daughter has urged Washington not to exclude Sharmahd from the developing prisoner exchange deal between the United States and Iran, under which $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea would also be unfrozen.

Iran on Aug. 10 released four imprisoned US citizens into house arrest, where they joined a fifth already under home confinement, in the first step of a deal under which the five would eventually be allowed to leave the country.

Kanaani said progress has been made regarding implementation of the deal, thanking the "constructive role" of neighboring Gulf Arab states Qatar and Oman in facilitating the agreement.



Rubio to Meet China's Wang on Sidelines of ASEAN Talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes part in a media briefing during the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. Mandel NGAN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes part in a media briefing during the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. Mandel NGAN / POOL/AFP
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Rubio to Meet China's Wang on Sidelines of ASEAN Talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes part in a media briefing during the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. Mandel NGAN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes part in a media briefing during the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. Mandel NGAN / POOL/AFP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Friday on the sidelines of ASEAN talks in Malaysia where Washington's tariffs are in sharp focus.

Rubio and Wang's first face-to-face meeting since US President Donald Trump returned to office comes as Washington and Beijing are locked in disputes on everything from trade and fentanyl to Taiwan and technology.

Rubio, a longtime China hawk, and Wang are in Kuala Lumpur for a gathering of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which Japan, South Korea and Australia are also attending.

US officials said ahead of Rubio's first trip to the region as secretary of state that Washington was "prioritizing" its commitment to East and Southeast Asia.

Rubio said Thursday the United States has "no intention of abandoning" the Asia-Pacific region.

But US tariffs have overshadowed the conference and Rubio has sought to placate Asian trade partners, saying talks were ongoing and might result in "better" rates than for the rest of the world.

Trump has threatened punitive tariffs ranging from 20 to 50 percent against more than 20 countries, many of them in Asia, if they do not strike deals with Washington by August 1.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said this week that tariffs were being used as "sharpened instruments of geopolitical rivalry".

Wang on Thursday called for a "fairer and more reasonable" international order.

"At the same time, we are also confronted with challenges such as the impact of unilateral protectionism and the abuse of tariffs by a certain major country," Wang said.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have ratcheted up since Trump took office in January, with both countries engaging in a tariff war that briefly sent duties on each other's exports sky-high.

At one point the United States hit China with additional levies of 145 percent on its goods as both sides engaged in tit-for-tat escalation. China's countermeasures on US goods reached 125 percent.

Beijing and Washington agreed in May to temporarily slash their staggeringly high tariffs -- an outcome Trump dubbed a "total reset".

- Taiwan, South China Sea -

Before becoming Secretary of State in January, Rubio had already been one of the most vocal critics of China on the American political stage for many years.

Rubio and Wang are also likely to discuss US concerns over China's expansionary behavior in the South China Sea and Beijing's growing military pressure on Taiwan.

China claims the democratic self-ruled island as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

Like most countries, Washington has no formal diplomatic relations with the island.

However, the United States is Taiwan's biggest arms supplier and has shown increasing support for Taipei in the face of Beijing's growing military pressure on the island in recent years.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused China in late May of "credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power" in the Asia-Pacific region.

He also claimed that Beijing "trains every day" to invade Taiwan.

In response, Chinese diplomats accused the United States of using the Taiwan issue to "contain China" and called on Washington to stop "playing with fire".