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Iran President-elect to Be Sworn in on July 30

Iran's reformist president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian
Iran's reformist president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian
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Iran President-elect to Be Sworn in on July 30

Iran's reformist president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian
Iran's reformist president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian

Iran's reformist president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian will take the oath of office in parliament on July 30, a member of the legislature's presiding board, Mojtaba Yousefi, said on Wednesday.
“The swearing-in ceremony of Masoud Pezeshkian will be held on July 30,” state news agency IRNA quoted Yousefi as saying.
Yousefi had said earlier this week that the swearing in would be held on August 4 or 5.
The 69-year-old reformist won a second-round runoff against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili. But the President in Iran retains limited authority, as ultimate power rests in the hands of the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who is considered head of the State.
The Iranian presidential election was called early after the death of president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May and amid public discontent caused by the deteriorating economic situation due to international sanctions imposed on Tehran.
On Wednesday, Hadi Tahan Nazif, the spokesperson for Iran's Constitutional Council affirmed that in accordance with the nation's constitution and historical precedents set after the Iranian Revolution, the presidency will continue to have a four-year tenure.
Nazif clarified that the president's four-year term commences immediately following the election.
He cited that the First Vice President retains the executive responsibility of the country until the new president takes the oath.
Meanwhile, the Tasnim news agency cited an “informed source” as saying that former Iranian deputy foreign minister and chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi is likely to become Iran’s new foreign minister.
It said that advisors to President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian have “almost reached a final conclusion” about the foreign minister post, and “the most likely option” is Araghchi.
Sources also confirmed that Araghchi has directly consulted in recent days with Pezeshkian about holding contacts with officials of the resistance groups and a number of regional heads of states.
On Tuesday, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he would not serve as a minister in the new cabinet or as the vice president.
“Based on the decisions aimed at rejuvenating the administration, 60% of the ministers will be first-timers under 50 years old,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, Pezeshkian on Wednesday met with former Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani and with senior government officials and high-profile figures.
The president-elect also met with Chief Justice of Iran, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, who underlined his full readiness to assist Pezeshkian in forming a new cabinet that is “in line with the Iranian Republic.”
He also affirmed the Judiciary readiness to assist the government in the realization of social justice.
Pezeshkian had met with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
During the meeting, Ahmadian affirmed to Pezeshkian the Council’s readiness for cooperation in political and security affairs with the government, according to Nour News, the news outlet close to Iran's SNSC.

 

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Iran President Says Tehran Would ‘Immediately’ Reciprocate if US Returns to June Deal

Pedestrians walk past a wall mural along a street in downtown of Tehran on August 31, 2026. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past a wall mural along a street in downtown of Tehran on August 31, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran President Says Tehran Would ‘Immediately’ Reciprocate if US Returns to June Deal

Pedestrians walk past a wall mural along a street in downtown of Tehran on August 31, 2026. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past a wall mural along a street in downtown of Tehran on August 31, 2026. (AFP)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Tehran would "immediately" reciprocate if the United States returned to a June deal aimed at ending their war.

"I state explicitly that if the United States returns to its commitments under the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, Iran will immediately take reciprocal action," Pezeshkian said at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, according to the website of the Iranian presidency.

World

Report: Trump Considering Limited Strikes Against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at his side, speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight from Dover, Delaware, to Miami, Florida, US, March 7, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at his side, speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight from Dover, Delaware, to Miami, Florida, US, March 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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Report: Trump Considering Limited Strikes Against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at his side, speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight from Dover, Delaware, to Miami, Florida, US, March 7, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at his side, speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on a flight from Dover, Delaware, to Miami, Florida, US, March 7, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump and his senior aides have been considering launching limited strikes in the Strait of Hormuz to prevent Iran from reconstituting its radar and missile capabilities to attack ships, three US officials told Axios.

One official said the idea behind the plan is to reduce the risk of Iranian attacks on oil tankers, US Navy ships and Air Force aircraft — to “mow the lawn,” as this person put it.

The plan was developed over the past week by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) and supported by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who sent it to the White House several days ago, US officials said.

The officials said that last week the White House was leaning against approving the strikes to avoid escalating with Iran.

But Iran's ballistic missile attacks on US bases in Jordan on Sunday could change Trump's mind.

A US official told Axios that in recent days Iran launched an anti-aircraft missile toward a US F-35 fighter jet that was providing cover to ships in the strait.

While the missile didn't come close enough to be a threat, it was a signal that Iran is trying to reconstitute its military capacity, according to the US official.

CENTCOM told Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine and the White House in recent days that the military might need to strike Iran periodically in order to keep moving dozens of oil tankers out of the Gulf relatively safely every day.

The Axios report came after the US and Iran exchanged attacks in the first flare-up in violence since late July.

US forces struck two Iranian launchers on Iran's Larak Island on Sunday, a US official said, after “Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz.”

Three people were killed in the attack, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported. The state-affiliated Nournews said two of them had been identified as members of the Revolutionary Guards Navy.

Larak is a small island in the strait near the strategic Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. The Strait of Hormuz, which normally handles a fifth of global crude oil and gas shipments, has been effectively blocked since the start of the war.

In a statement, the US Central Command said ⁠it had taken “limited, precise” action against minelaying forces of Iran's Revolutionary Guards that posed an “imminent threat” in the strait. It gave no details.

On Monday, Trump told Fox News that the US would hit Iran hard in retaliation for Tehran targeting US forces in Jordan.

“We're going to hit them hard,” Trump said. “There will be a response.”

A senior Iranian source to Reuters, “For every US attack on Iran, Tehran will respond dozens of times more forcefully, and no target in the region is beyond our reach.”

World

Nepal Rescuers Reach Remote Areas, Electricity Restored Nearly a Week After Devastating Floods

People scout for usable materials from debris after flash floods at Trishuli Center in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 1, 2026. (AFP)
People scout for usable materials from debris after flash floods at Trishuli Center in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 1, 2026. (AFP)
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Nepal Rescuers Reach Remote Areas, Electricity Restored Nearly a Week After Devastating Floods

People scout for usable materials from debris after flash floods at Trishuli Center in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 1, 2026. (AFP)
People scout for usable materials from debris after flash floods at Trishuli Center in Nepal's Nuwakot district on September 1, 2026. (AFP)

Nepali rescuers built temporary bridges to reach remote areas and dug through the ruins of hydropower projects in the Himalayas to rescue close to 300 trapped workers, nearly a week after devastating floods left a trail of destruction across the country's towns and valleys.

About 600 people remain stuck in several devastated hydropower stations that have become the focus of rescue efforts, while Prime Minister Balendra Shah said over 11,000 people have been rescued across the affected region and power and communication lines had been restored in some areas.

At least 939 people have been killed in the destruction, Shah said ‌in a late-night ‌social media post.

"Thousands of citizens have lost their homes, families, loved ‌ones ⁠and property," he ⁠said.

"The government understands the immense pain they are enduring. The path ahead is to support them through this suffering and help them return to normal life through rehabilitation."

Rescue teams had managed to restore road networks to Nuwakot, one of the worst-affected districts, facilitating rescue operations and distribution of relief material, Shah said.

A glacier collapse triggered a deluge of ice, rock and mud which swept through the impoverished nation's border region with China, posing a massive challenge for Nepal's six-month-old government.

Police official Bipin ⁠Regmi said a search team recovered 24 bodies from a house ‌in Betrabati village in Nuwakot district.

"We are reaching ‌new areas and recovering bodies," Regmi told Reuters.

Aid worth more than $42 million had poured into the country after ‌the disaster, Shah said, and the government expected the contributions to increase.

Neighbors India and ‌China, between whom Nepal is wedged, were helping with rescue efforts, including building bailey bridges to reach remote affected areas.

RESCUE EFFORTS FOCUS ON HYDROPOWER STATIONS

Shah said 279 workers had been rescued from hydropower projects so far where authorities estimated that close to 1,000 people were trapped.

Pictures and videos shared by rescue ‌teams showed earth-moving equipment digging and shoveling mud and rocks under lights in the dark of the night as workers watched. Soldiers used ⁠torchlight in a ⁠big pit they had created to look for space to get into one tunnel.

There has been a boom in hydropower projects in Nepal since the turn of the century as the mountainous country sought to take advantage of its Himalayan water resources to address chronic domestic power shortages and exploit prospects for selling electricity to southern neighbor India.

Hydropower projects in Nepal's mountains need tunnels to carry water through the steep terrain, allowing developers to exploit the sharp elevation drop between Himalayan rivers and powerhouses to generate electricity.

CHINA BLAMES GLOBAL WARMING

Shah said the catastrophic event signaled the growing risks that the Himalayan region faces.

"The region must therefore remain vigilant. The time has come for us to strongly raise before the international community the disasters we are experiencing as a consequence of climate change," Shah said in his post.

Last week's flood was "caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming", China's state broadcaster said on Monday.