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Iran Says Its Right to Uranium Enrichment Is Non-Negotiable 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iran Says Its Right to Uranium Enrichment Is Non-Negotiable 

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks as he meets with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq October 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Iran's right to enrich uranium is not negotiable, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday, ahead of a second round of talks in Oman this weekend with the United States about Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Araqchi was responding to a comment made on Tuesday by the US top negotiator Steve Witkoff, who said Tehran must "stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment" to reach a deal with Washington.

"We have heard contradictory statements from Witkoff, but real positions will be made clear at the negotiating table," Araqchi said.

"We are ready to build trust regarding possible concerns over Iran's enrichment (of uranium), but the principle of enrichment is not negotiable."

Iran and the US are due to hold a second round of talks in Oman on Saturday over Tehran's escalating nuclear program, with President Donald Trump threatening military action if there is no deal.

Before the talks, Araqchi will deliver a message from Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin on a trip to Russia, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

The Kremlin on Tuesday declined to comment when asked if Russia was ready to take control of Iran's stocks of enriched uranium as part of a possible future nuclear deal between Iran and the United States.

The Guardian reported that Tehran was expected to reject a US proposal to transfer its stockpile of enriched uranium to a third country such as Russia as part of an agreement that Washington is seeking to scale back Iran's nuclear program.

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World

Nobel Laureate Mohammadi in Iran Hospital After ‘Cardiac Crisis’, Foundation Says

A picture of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on the wall of the Grand Hotel in central Oslo before the Nobel banquet, in connection with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, in Oslo, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Javad Parsa via Reuters)
A picture of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on the wall of the Grand Hotel in central Oslo before the Nobel banquet, in connection with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, in Oslo, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Javad Parsa via Reuters)
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Nobel Laureate Mohammadi in Iran Hospital After ‘Cardiac Crisis’, Foundation Says

A picture of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on the wall of the Grand Hotel in central Oslo before the Nobel banquet, in connection with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, in Oslo, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Javad Parsa via Reuters)
A picture of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on the wall of the Grand Hotel in central Oslo before the Nobel banquet, in connection with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, in Oslo, Norway December 10, 2023. (NTB/Javad Parsa via Reuters)

Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was in an Iranian hospital after a "catastrophic deterioration of her health," including a "cardiac crisis", a foundation run by her family said.

The secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded Mohammadi the 2023 prize, expressed concern on Thursday that the condition of the Iranian human rights activist was worsening after she had suffered a heart attack in prison.

Mohammadi, in her 50s, won the prize while in prison for her campaign to advance women's rights and abolish the ‌death penalty in ‌Iran.

The activist "was urgently transferred to a hospital ‌in Zanjan ⁠today following a ⁠catastrophic deterioration of her health, including two episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis," the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement on its website on Friday.

"This transfer was done as an unavoidable necessity after prison doctors determined her condition could not be managed on-site, despite standing medical recommendations that ⁠she be treated by her specialized team in ‌Tehran."

Reuters could not immediately confirm the ‌statement, which said her transfer was a “desperate, last-minute” measure that might come ‌too late to address her critical health needs.

Mohammadi was sentenced ‌to a new prison term of 7-1/2 years, the foundation said in February, weeks before the US and Israel launched their war against Iran. The Nobel committee at the time called on Tehran to free ‌her immediately.

She was arrested in December after denouncing the death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi. Prosecutor Hasan ⁠Hematifar told reporters ⁠then she made provocative remarks at Alikordi's memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad and encouraged those present "to chant norm-breaking slogans" and "disturb the peace".

On Friday morning, Mohammadi fainted after days of dangerously high blood pressure and severe nausea, the foundation said. After multiple bouts of vomiting, she blacked out and was moved to the prison medical unit for emergency intravenous fluids.

The activist, who has undergone three angioplasty procedures, faces a "direct and immediate" threat to her right to life, her family said. “We call for all charges to be dropped immediately and for all sentences imposed for her peaceful human rights work to be unconditionally annulled.”

World

Two Killed in Russian Attack on Bus in Kherson

The interior of the damaged flat in an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine May 1, 2026. (Reuters)
The interior of the damaged flat in an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine May 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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Two Killed in Russian Attack on Bus in Kherson

The interior of the damaged flat in an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine May 1, 2026. (Reuters)
The interior of the damaged flat in an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine May 1, 2026. (Reuters)

A ‌Russian drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's southern city of Kherson killed two people and injured seven more early on Saturday, officials said.

Most of the casualties were public utilities workers, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin added on Telegram. He posted images from the site that showed the bus with ‌blown-out windows and ‌a body with traces ‌of ⁠blood lying on ⁠its floor.

"Such attacks are part of a systemic policy of terror against the civilian population," Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said on the Telegram app.

Kherson, the only regional ⁠capital seized by Russian forces in ‌their 2022 ‌full-scale invasion, was recaptured by Ukrainian troops later ‌that year but has increasingly ‌come under attack from Russian forces across the Dnipro River.

Ukrainian officials and human rights organizations have accused Moscow's troops of deliberate ‌and systemic small-drone attacks on civilians across areas close to the ⁠frontline, ⁠in particular in Kherson.

The southern Odesa region, targeted by Russian strikes almost daily over the last couple of months, also came under attack overnight, the regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

A warehouse and neighboring buildings were damaged at a port, he added on Telegram.

Ukraine's air force said it downed 142 out of 163 long-range drones launched by Russia overnight.

World

Iran Executes Two Men Convicted of Spying for Israel

People shop in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People shop in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Executes Two Men Convicted of Spying for Israel

People shop in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People shop in a local market in Tehran, Iran, April 28, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran hanged two men on Saturday convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary said, the latest in a string of executions in recent weeks.

"Yaghoub Karimpour and Nasser Bekrzadeh were hanged for the crime of intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of the Zionist regime," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

It was not immediately clear when the two men were arrested.

Mizan said Karimpour was convicted of the capital offence of "moharebeh," or waging war against God, over "filming and photographing security and military locations and sending them to a Mossad officer during the imposed war," referring to Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June 2025.

It added that Bekrzadeh cooperated with Israel's spy agency, Mossad, by sending information on "religious and provincial figures, as well as important centers such as the Natanz area," home to a key nuclear site.

Mizan did not specify whether Bekrzadeh's activities took place during wartime.

On February 28, Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran, triggering another war that engulfed the Middle East but has been paused since April 8 under a fragile ceasefire.

Iran has in recent weeks carried out multiple executions of people linked to mass protests in January, which authorities say were instigated by Israel, the United States and opposition groups, including the banned People's Mujahedin organization.

On Thursday, Iran said it hanged a man, identified as Sasan Azadvar, who was convicted of acting on behalf of such groups by "attacking police officers" in the central province of Isfahan during the pre-war protests.

The demonstrations began in late December over rising living costs before spreading nationwide and evolving into anti-government protests that peaked on January 8 and 9.

Iranian authorities said the rallies began peacefully before turning into "foreign-instigated riots" involving killings and vandalism.