عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran Says US ‘More Realistic’ on Nuclear Issue, as Guards Begin Drills in Hormuz Strait

Iranians walk past an anti-US billboard at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 16 February 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk past an anti-US billboard at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 16 February 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

Iran Says US ‘More Realistic’ on Nuclear Issue, as Guards Begin Drills in Hormuz Strait

Iranians walk past an anti-US billboard at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 16 February 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk past an anti-US billboard at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 16 February 2026. (EPA)

Iran said on Monday that the United States' position on Iran's nuclear program "has moved towards a more realistic one", a day ahead of a second round of US-Iranian talks in Geneva. 

Tehran's foreign minister arrived in Geneva for the new round of indirect negotiations with the US, as the Revolutionary Guards began military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil and gas. 

The two sides recently resumed indirect talks, mediated by Oman, after US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened military action against Iran over a deadly crackdown on protesters last month. 

A previous attempt at negotiations collapsed when Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran, beginning a 12-day war that Washington briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. 

"A cautious assessment is that, from the discussions that have taken place in Muscat to date, at least what we have been told is that the US position on the Iranian nuclear issue has moved towards a more realistic one," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, the official IRNA news agency reported. 

According to Tehran, talks mediated by Oman will be held on Tuesday in Switzerland. 

Washington has previously pushed for other topics to be discussed including Iran's ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region. 

The war games being conducted by the Guards, the ideological arm of the military, aim to prepare it for "potential security and military threats" in the strait, Iranian state TV said. 

Iranian politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the strait, a strategic waterway through which about 20 percent of global oil passes, as both sides ramp up pressure with talks set to resume. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday "we're hopeful there's a deal". 

"The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things." 

Meanwhile, Iran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, wrote on X that he was meeting in Geneva with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, "for deep technical discussion". 

Grossi later confirmed the meeting on X, calling the conversation with Araghchi "in-depth" ahead of Tuesday's "important negotiations". 

- Protest crackdown - 

Araghchi is also set to hold talks with his Swiss and Omani counterparts as well as other international officials, Iran's foreign ministry said. 

"I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats," Araghchi added on X. 

Washington has dispatched Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, the White House confirmed on Sunday. 

The latest talks follow repeated threats from Trump of military action against Tehran, first over Iran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, and then more recently over the country's nuclear program. 

The West fears the program is aimed at making a bomb, which Tehran denies. 

On Friday, Trump said a change of government in Iran would be the "best thing that could happen", as he sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to ratchet up military pressure. 

His remarks came before demonstrations outside Iran against its clerical authorities swept a number of cities including in the US over the weekend. 

Iranians inside the country have also defied the deadly crackdown on protests last month and continued to shout slogans against the authorities from their windows. 

- 'Viable' deal - 

Iran's deputy foreign minister told the BBC that Tehran would consider compromises on its uranium stockpile if Washington lifts sanctions that have crippled the country's economy. 

"If we see the sincerity on their (American) part, I am sure we will be on a road to have an agreement," said Majid Takht-Ravanchi. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that any deal must involve the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran as well as Tehran's ability to enrich more. 

The whereabouts of Iran's stockpile of around 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent remains unknown, with inspectors having last seen it in June. 

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Japan Marks 15 Years Since Tsunami Disaster as Takaichi Pushes More Nuclear Energy Use

People observe a moment of silence towards the sea at 2:46 p.m. (05:46 GMT), the time when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's coast in 2011, with the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant seen in the background in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2026, to mark the 15-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis. (Kyodo/via Reuters)
People observe a moment of silence towards the sea at 2:46 p.m. (05:46 GMT), the time when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's coast in 2011, with the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant seen in the background in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2026, to mark the 15-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis. (Kyodo/via Reuters)
TT
TT

Japan Marks 15 Years Since Tsunami Disaster as Takaichi Pushes More Nuclear Energy Use

People observe a moment of silence towards the sea at 2:46 p.m. (05:46 GMT), the time when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's coast in 2011, with the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant seen in the background in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2026, to mark the 15-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis. (Kyodo/via Reuters)
People observe a moment of silence towards the sea at 2:46 p.m. (05:46 GMT), the time when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's coast in 2011, with the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant seen in the background in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2026, to mark the 15-year anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands and set off a nuclear crisis. (Kyodo/via Reuters)

Japan marked the 15th anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster on its northeastern coast Wednesday as the government pushes for more use of atomic energy.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of the region, caused more than 22,000 deaths and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes, most of them due to tsunami damage.

Some 160,000 people fled their homes in Fukushima because of the radiation spewed from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 of them haven't returned because they resettled elsewhere, their hometowns remain off-limits or they have lingering concerns about radiation.

Japan observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., the moment the quake occurred 15 years earlier.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, at a ceremony in Fukushima, pledged to do the utmost to accelerate the region's recovery within the next five years and reinforce “the valuable lessons we learned from the huge sacrifice of the disaster.”

Takaichi has pushed to accelerate reactor restarts and sought to bolster nuclear power as a stable energy source, in line with the major reversal of policy in 2022 that ended a decade-long nuclear phase-out plan.

Some residents in the tsunami-ravaged areas walked down to the coast early morning to pray for their loved ones and others whose remains are still missing.

More than 1 million homes, offices and schools were damaged or destroyed in the quake and tsunami in Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima and other coastal areas. Key infrastructure has been rebuilt, but communities and local economies have been slow to recover.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant lost its power and cooling functions, causing meltdowns in three of its six reactors. The three reactors contain at least 880 tons of melted fuel debris, but details of the state inside them are little known due to the still-dangerous radiation levels.

Fuller-scale removal of melted fuel debris has been delayed until 2037 or later. At Unit 1 which just got a new roof, workers will shortly start taking out top-floor debris ahead of the planned spent fuel removal from its cooling pool, which will begin around 2027-2028.

There's also a massive amount of slightly radioactive soil, enough to fill 11 baseball stadiums, from the decontamination efforts across the area.

The government has pledged to move the soil and has sought to use some for road construction and other public works projects but has faced public resistance.

World

‘No Good Choice’: The Afghans Forced to Return from Iran

An Afghan national arrives with his belongings at the Islam Qala border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran in Herat province on March 10, 2026, upon his arrival from Iran amid the Middle East war. (AFP)
An Afghan national arrives with his belongings at the Islam Qala border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran in Herat province on March 10, 2026, upon his arrival from Iran amid the Middle East war. (AFP)
TT
TT

‘No Good Choice’: The Afghans Forced to Return from Iran

An Afghan national arrives with his belongings at the Islam Qala border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran in Herat province on March 10, 2026, upon his arrival from Iran amid the Middle East war. (AFP)
An Afghan national arrives with his belongings at the Islam Qala border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran in Herat province on March 10, 2026, upon his arrival from Iran amid the Middle East war. (AFP)

Exhausted Afghans cross the border from Iran in a sandstorm, leaving behind a country in the grip of war to return to a homeland that is battered by conflict and humanitarian crisis.

At the Islam Qala crossing point in Herat province, western Afghanistan, Talibshah, who did not to give his family name, said he had been working in agriculture northwest of Tehran.

He was cheated by money changers at the border and was trying to figure out how to get back to Sar-e-Pol province in the north, hundreds of kilometers away on difficult, mountainous roads.

Talibshah's work in Qazvin in northern Iran helped support seven people -- his mother, father, brothers and sisters -- at a time when drought had made farming difficult, if not impossible, back home.

"I don't know whether I will be able to find a job or not. We are left without prospects," he told AFP.

"If I don't find a job here, I'll have to emigrate again. We have no choice. We can't starve," he added.

- Funding shortfall -

The United Nations has warned that nearly half of Afghanistan -- 21.9 million people -- will need humanitarian aid this year.

Since February 26, the country has been hit by fresh clashes with neighboring Pakistan to the east, which have killed at least 56 civilians and forced about 115,000 from their homes.

The UN refugee agency's representative in Afghanistan, Arafat Jamal, said there was "no good choice" for those coming back.

"They're fleeing war in Iran and coming to a country that is also itself at war," he said. "In other words, these people are coming into a country that is wracked by drought, that has unemployment, and that now has conflict inside it."

Since the war began in the Middle East on February 28, about 1,700 people have returned every day. But the UNHCR is expecting bigger numbers in the future if there is no let-up in the conflict.

The agency is ready in terms of staff and infrastructure to receive those leaving Iran but funding was lacking for the relief effort, said Jamal.

- '50 times greater' -

At the Islam Qala border post, more people arrived on Tuesday than the previous week, said an AFP correspondent on the ground.

Families crossed quickly, their faces expressionless, with one or two suitcases holding their meager belongings.

Mohammad Kabir Nazari, 48, had been working for the last 11 months as a security guard in Tehran, and was in the country during the 12-day war last June.

He described the latest strikes as "50 times greater".

"Missiles were coming from all sides, every day," he said. "For Afghans, there was no shelter. The situation was very bad."

Nazari, originally from Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan, said he had been travelling to Iran for the last 32 years.

Then, the markets were busy around the Persian new year, Nowruz, and for the end of Ramadan but were currently empty, he added.

The slowdown in Iran's economy has consequences for the many Afghan migrant workers: one friend of Nazari told him he had been sacked with other Afghans and forced to return.

- 'Waves and waves' -

Naeemullah Rahimi, 24, was also working as a security guard at a factory in the Tehran suburbs. He said he was forced to shelter from air strikes in the basement.

"When we saw that the situation was very bad, we had to come back to Afghanistan," he said.

Jobs are scarce in his home province of Wardak in central Afghanistan.

"I don't know what to do," said Rahimi. "But if I find a job, I'll work."

The UNHCR's Jamal said "waves and waves" of people have been deported to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan since September 2023. Last year alone, 2.8 million Afghans returned.

"That was the largest such movement in the world," he added.

"If we start to experience similar numbers this year, will Afghanistan really be able to cope? Perhaps, but it needs international support.

"We cannot afford to let Afghanistan fail," he said, warning that forgetting the region will had an even more destabilizing effect in the world.

World

Report: Boeing Signs $289 Million Israel Contract for 5,000 Smart Bombs

Members of the US Air Force (USAF) prepare munitions at RAF Fairford in south-west England on March 10, 2026, after USAF B-1 Lancer bomber jets and Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers landed at the RAF base. (AFP)
Members of the US Air Force (USAF) prepare munitions at RAF Fairford in south-west England on March 10, 2026, after USAF B-1 Lancer bomber jets and Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers landed at the RAF base. (AFP)
TT
TT

Report: Boeing Signs $289 Million Israel Contract for 5,000 Smart Bombs

Members of the US Air Force (USAF) prepare munitions at RAF Fairford in south-west England on March 10, 2026, after USAF B-1 Lancer bomber jets and Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers landed at the RAF base. (AFP)
Members of the US Air Force (USAF) prepare munitions at RAF Fairford in south-west England on March 10, 2026, after USAF B-1 Lancer bomber jets and Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers landed at the RAF base. (AFP)

Boeing ‌has signed a new $289 million contract with Israel to deliver as many as 5,000 new air-launched smart bombs, a source told Reuters on Tuesday.

The new contract is not related to the ongoing US-Israeli air strikes on Iran, with deliveries not scheduled to start for 36 months, Bloomberg News reported earlier, citing a person familiar ‌with the matter.

Boeing ‌declined to comment when ‌contacted ⁠by Reuters.

The company's ⁠Small Diameter Bomb is a guided munition that can be launched by Israeli jets at targets more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) away.

Last year, Boeing was awarded an $8.6 billion contract by the Pentagon ⁠to produce and deliver F-15 jets ‌to Israel ‌as part of a foreign military sale between the ‌governments.

The US has long been by ‌far the largest arms supplier to its closest Middle East ally.

Reuters reported last week that President Donald Trump's administration has bypassed US ‌Congress using an emergency authority to expedite the sale of more than ⁠20,000 ⁠bombs to Israel worth around $650 million.

A State Department official had said on Saturday that Israel will purchase an extra $298 million worth of critical munitions via direct commercial sales.

Earlier this year, the US State Department approved more than $6.5 billion in three separate contracts for potential military sales to Israel, which include Boeing's Apache helicopters.