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Iran FM in Russia for Nuclear Talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Russian legislators in Moscow. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Russian legislators in Moscow. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
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Iran FM in Russia for Nuclear Talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Russian legislators in Moscow. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meets with Russian legislators in Moscow. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow on Tuesday amid a crisis in his country’s relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and ongoing disagreements with the West over a nuclear deal.

Ahead of Araghchi’s arrival, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Iranian state media that the IAEA needed to be neutral in dealing with Iran.

“The IAEA did not condemn the (US and Israeli) strikes on Iran (in June) even though the agency had a mandate to monitor the bombed sites – these were the sites in question. This omission was a blatant violation of all the rules and norms,” Lavrov said.

“This is why IAEA’s actions did not exactly please anyone in Iran, to say the least, which is more than understandable,” he noted.

Iran passed a law in July to suspend its cooperation with the IAEA, denying UN inspectors access into the country. The suspension came after US and Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities on June 22.

The FM said Russia supported Iran at various stages of the negotiations with the IAEA.

President Vladimir Putin “discussed the current situation with our Iranian friends at various levels. We shared with our Iranian friends our opinion on how to deal with this situation, how to restore relations with the IAEA and with Western countries and on what terms, if they are interested in this. But the final decision remains, of course, with the leadership of Iran,” Lavrov added.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi had been calling on Iran to allow inspectors access to three key nuclear facilities that enrich uranium and were hit by the US and Israeli airstrikes in June.

But head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami said the IAEA has no right to demand inspections of the targeted sites.

In a related development, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held telephone talks with Grossi on Monday over the Iranian nuclear file.

Abdelatty underscored the importance of continuing efforts aimed at building confidence and paving the way for sustained cooperation between Iran and the IAEA.

In an interview with Radio France International (RFI) on Monday, Grossi said: “Contact with Iran remains in place. We haven’t yet been able to restore cooperation to the required level, but I believe it is critically important.”

He said dialogue with Iran continues through behind-the-scenes negotiations and confidential contacts.

Last month, Kamal Kharrazi, a top foreign affairs advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei, said Tehran was ready to consider a Russian and Chinese plan to resume cooperation with IAEA.

In Russia, Araghchi met with Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the lower house of parliament, and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR).

He said Russian-Iranian ties are developing across all areas of cooperation.

Araghchi and Lavrov are set to meet on Wednesday.

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World

Iran Working to Finalize Hormuz Agreement with Oman

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Iran Working to Finalize Hormuz Agreement with Oman

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Iran said Monday it has reached an agreement with Oman over a plan for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries, and the sides are now working to finalize details for a joint statement.

Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that “an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route.”

He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering through a route close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman. Ships would transit without paying fees or tolls during the interim period.

The US has sought an acceptable deal on opening the strait before ending its blockade of Iranian ports and it was not clear whether this would meet Washington’s expectations.

Iran effectively closed the strait — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war — after Israel and the US attacked the country on Feb. 28.

Baghaei conceded the talks with Oman have gone slowly, “but we had planned, and still plan, to finalize the understanding in the form of a package: the map plus a joint statement.”

His comments came as a 60-day deadline for finding an agreement to end the war expired, with no signs of a deal between the US and Iran.

World

Residents Jeer French PM on Visit to Fire-Hit Region

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)
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Residents Jeer French PM on Visit to Fire-Hit Region

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)

Dozens of residents on Monday jeered the French prime minister as he arrived in a region hit by wildfires earlier this summer, in a show of anger over the government's handling of the worst such crisis in France in decades.

Some 200 people dressed in black gathered in front of the town hall in Le Porge in southwestern France, where 183 homes burned down when wildfires swept through the Gironde region in late July and early August, at one point even threatening the city of Bordeaux.

They jeered, whistled and shouted anti-government slogans as the tinted-window car with a flashing light carrying Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu approached for a meeting with the mayor of Le Porge, Martial Zaninetti, an AFP correspondent said.

"Where is he? Where is he?" the crowd shouted.

"It would have been the least he could do" for the prime minister to meet the residents, said Tony Veiga, a 65-year-old pensioner. "It really amounts to treating us as if we don't matter."

Lecornu's office said he had spoken with affected residents and farmers.

"We have absolutely nothing to hide regarding how fire protection operations have been conducted over the past few weeks," Lecornu said as he met local officials in the nearby town of Merignac after leaving Le Porge.

He had already visited Le Porge on Sunday afternoon to tour the municipality with the mayor -- a trip that had not been announced and took place without press cameras.

There is anger in the region among some residents who allege authorities prioritized fighting fires in the upscale Cap-Ferret peninsula -- where many affluent Parisians take holidays -- over protecting homes of local residents.

"He doesn't want to meet us; it's a shame. We had things we wanted to say," said Ludivine Daurignac, organizer of a group of affected residents who plan to file complaints and get "truth, transparency, and justice".

"We were met by lines of riot police blocking our access," she said.

Having burned through 42,000 hectares, the fire was brought under control on August 1.

It was the largest such fire in France by surface area since 1949, with the flames coming within 15 kilometers (10 miles) of the Bordeaux metropolitan area and forcing the evacuation of more than 220,000 residents and tourists.

World

Iran Says 2 French Embassy Employees Barred from Returning

An Iranian rides a motorbike past a political billboard displayed at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 17 August 2026. (As mandated by Iran's Directorate General for Foreign Media)
An Iranian rides a motorbike past a political billboard displayed at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 17 August 2026. (As mandated by Iran's Directorate General for Foreign Media)
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Iran Says 2 French Embassy Employees Barred from Returning

An Iranian rides a motorbike past a political billboard displayed at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 17 August 2026. (As mandated by Iran's Directorate General for Foreign Media)
An Iranian rides a motorbike past a political billboard displayed at the Valiasr square in Tehran, Iran, 17 August 2026. (As mandated by Iran's Directorate General for Foreign Media)

Iran said on Monday that two French embassy employees involved in a diplomatic dispute last month would not be allowed to return to Iran.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the two had violated the Vienna Convention - which defines the rules and privileges of diplomatic missions - engaging in activities supporting Iranian civil society.

"Insisting that these individuals were engaged ⁠in activities related to ⁠supporting civil society is itself an admission that the Vienna Convention was violated," Baghaei told a weekly press conference, without elaborating.

Tehran has long been highly sensitive to what ⁠it sees as Western meddling in its internal affairs, especially since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February in a conflict that continues to rage.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, in an interview with France Inter last month, said the mission of the two embassy employees concerned ⁠was ⁠to "develop programs supporting Iranian civil society, students, and artists (...) France is one of the countries in the world that does the most for Iranian civil society, and we have paid the price for it."

France summoned Iran's charge d'affaires on July 21 after accusing Iranian security forces of detaining and physically intimidating its embassy staff in Tehran.