Iran Says Ready to Rebuild ‘Mutual Trust’ with Europe

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
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Iran Says Ready to Rebuild ‘Mutual Trust’ with Europe

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters

Iran's top diplomat said Sunday his country was ready to rebuild trust with European powers considering whether to reimpose UN sanctions on the country under a 2015 nuclear deal.

"Iran is ready, should it observe genuine will and an independent approach from the European parties, to begin a new chapter in its relations with Europe," said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

"If Europe possesses the necessary will to rectify this path, Iran sees no obstacle to rebuilding mutual trust and expanding relations," he told a diplomatic forum in Tehran.

On Friday, senior Iranian diplomats met with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany for talks on the status of US-Iran nuclear negotiations.

Tehran has held four rounds of Oman-mediated nuclear talks with Washington, the highest-level contact between the two foes since the US abandoned a 2015 nuclear accord.

US President Donald Trump effectively torpedoed the deal in 2018 during his first term, by unilaterally pulling out and reimposing sanctions on Iran's oil exports and banking sector.

A year later, Iran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement, which had offered sanctions relief in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.

The three European powers -- party to the 2015 accord -- are weighing whether to trigger "snapback" mechanism, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance. That option expires in October.

Araghchi earlier this month warned of "irreversible" consequences if Britain, France and Germany moved to reimpose sanctions.

The minister had previously proposed visiting London, Paris and Berlin for discussions on the nuclear issue as well as other areas "of mutual interest and concern".

In his speech on Sunday, he urged the Europeans to focus more on shared interests rather than differences.



Australia Warns of Floods, Fires after Cars Washed Away

Brisbane was inundated after the river running through the city burst its banks. Pic: AP
Brisbane was inundated after the river running through the city burst its banks. Pic: AP
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Australia Warns of Floods, Fires after Cars Washed Away

Brisbane was inundated after the river running through the city burst its banks. Pic: AP
Brisbane was inundated after the river running through the city burst its banks. Pic: AP

Australia's emergency services warned people Friday to stay prepared for sudden downpours and dangerous bushfires in the country's east after a flash flood swept cars into the sea.

Heavy rains on Thursday sent a deluge of water flowing through some parts of the eastern state of Victoria, which is still battling 10 major bushfires.

Photo and video images in local media showed one car rolling around in muddy waters as it was carried along the Wye River southwest of Melbourne, AFP reported.

Two cars were still partially submerged under the ocean waves on Friday, a few steps from the sandy coastline.

A local record of 186 millimeters (more than seven inches) fell in the 24 hours to Friday morning in one spot, the state meteorology service said.

Most of that water fell on Thursday.

"We've seen severe-to-extreme heat wave, catastrophic bushfires and now extreme flash flooding in the southwest of the state," Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch told reporters.

"It really is a timely reminder that communities need to be prepared for all types of emergencies."

The flash flood cut off the state's Great Ocean Road and forced up to 300 people to flee, officials said. Many of them were reportedly holidaying at caravan camps. One child was injured and airlifted to hospital.

"It was raining, we were all in the tent playing cards with the gang, then we heard shouting," camper Matthew Stanhope told The Age newspaper, saying he and his friends ran to a nearby hill.

"It was lightning fast and quiet too. There's no noise, just all of a sudden the water is up."

Flood risks have since eased in the state.

Victoria declared a state of disaster on January 10 after days of battling bushfires that have razed homes and killed one person north of Melbourne.

Emergency services said the fires have so far destroyed 289 homes and damaged another 18, as well as hundreds of outbuildings.


Washington Enhancing Military Presence in Middle East amid Iran Tensions

The USS Abraham Lincoln and its escort group 
The USS Abraham Lincoln and its escort group 
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Washington Enhancing Military Presence in Middle East amid Iran Tensions

The USS Abraham Lincoln and its escort group 
The USS Abraham Lincoln and its escort group 

The US is enhancing its military presence in the Middle East following US President Donald Trump's threats against Iran, several US media outlets reported on Thursday.

The New York Times reported that the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and some of its escort warships were steaming toward the Middle East from the South China Sea — about a weeklong journey, according to two US officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

In addition, an array of warplanes, likely to include a combination of fighter jets, attack planes and refueling planes, were expected to start flowing into the region soon, many from Europe, the officials said.

Some of these aircraft had been scheduled to replace units in the Middle East and could have their tours extended depending on the severity of the tensions, the officials added.

Meanwhile, Axios said that as Trump takes time to consider diplomatic options with Iran, the US military is evacuating troops from Middle East bases and sending reinforcements to the region, including the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group. There was no official confirmation of such deployment from the Pentagon.

Also, Fox News quoted military sources as saying that at least one US aircraft carrier is being moved toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran continue to build.

It is not yet clear whether the carrier is the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the South China Sea, or one of two carriers that departed Norfolk and San Diego earlier this week, it wrote.

Since mass protests began against the Iranian government two weeks ago, Trump has openly threatened to intervene in Iran, without giving specifics.

In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, he vowed “very strong action” if Iran executes protesters. He also urged Iranians to keep protesting and take over institutions, declaring “help is on the way.”

Protests in Iran erupted mainly due to dire economic conditions and widespread resentment form the country’s leaderships.

Iranian security forces have exerted mounting violence against protestors, with reports of hundreds killed and thousands arrested.


Back From Iran, Pakistani Students Say They Heard Gunshots While Confined to Campus

 A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Back From Iran, Pakistani Students Say They Heard Gunshots While Confined to Campus

 A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A Pakistani medical student Arslan Haider waits at the airport after arriving from Tehran on a commercial flight amid the ongoing nationwide protests in Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, January 15, 2026. (Reuters)

Pakistani students returning from Iran on Thursday said they heard gunshots and stories of rioting and violence while being confined to campus and not allowed out of their dormitories in the evening.

Iran's leadership is trying to quell the worst domestic unrest since its 1979 revolution, with a rights group putting the death toll over 2,600.

As the protests swell, Tehran is seeking to deter US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to intervene on behalf of anti-government protesters.

"During ‌nighttime, we would ‌sit inside and we would hear gunshots," Shahanshah ‌Abbas, ⁠a fourth-year ‌student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, said at the Islamabad airport.

"The situation down there is that riots have been happening everywhere. People are dying. Force is being used."

Abbas said students at the university were not allowed to leave campus and told to stay in their dormitories after 4 p.m.

"There was nothing happening on campus," Abbas said, but in his interactions with Iranians, he ⁠heard stories of violence and chaos.

"The surrounding areas, like banks, mosques, they were damaged, set on fire ... ‌so things were really bad."

Trump has repeatedly ‍threatened to intervene in support of protesters ‍in Iran but adopted a wait-and-see posture on Thursday after protests appeared ‍to have abated. Information flows have been hampered by an internet blackout for a week.

"We were not allowed to go out of the university," said Arslan Haider, a student in his final year. "The riots would mostly start later in the day."

Haider said he was unable to contact his family due to the blackout but "now that they opened international calls, the students are ⁠getting back because their parents were concerned".

A Pakistani diplomat in Tehran said the embassy was getting calls from many of the 3,500 students in Iran to send messages to their families back home.

"Since they don't have internet connections to make WhatsApp and other social network calls, what they do is they contact the embassy from local phone numbers and tell us to inform their families."

Rimsha Akbar, who was in the middle of her final year exams at Isfahan, said international students were kept safe.

"Iranians would tell us if we are talking on Snapchat or if we were riding in a cab ... ‌that shelling had happened, tear gas had happened, and that a lot of people were killed."