Iran

How close is Iran to producing a nuclear bomb?

A 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is being eroded and efforts to revive the pact face a new challenge with the killing of Tehran's top nuclear scientist.…

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Deployment of aircraft carrier in Gulf not linked to Iran developments – US

U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was deployed to the Gulf this week, days before the killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist, although the U.S. Navy said on Saturday the deployment…

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Iran Ayatollah promises retaliation for top nuclear scientist killing

Iran's supreme leader promised on Saturday to retaliate for the killing of the Islamic Republic's top nuclear scientist, raising the threat of a new confrontation with the West and Israel…

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Killing of suspected Iranian nuclear mastermind risks confrontation

An Iranian scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb programme was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday that could provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes…

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Iran vows to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm its Syrian role

Iran on Sunday vowed to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm its role in Syria, saying the era of "hit and run" attacks by Israel there was over, days after…

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Trump considered attacking Iran last week

President Donald Trump, with two months left in office, last week asked for options on attacking Iran's main nuclear site, but ultimately decided against taking the dramatic step, a U.S.…

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Dealing with Trump presidency nemesis Iran won’t be ‘quick, easy’ for Biden

When reality TV star Donald Trump took office he quickly cast Iran as a main villain of his presidency - ultimately abandoning a landmark deal aimed at stopping Tehran from…

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Iran temporarily releases jailed rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh

Iran has temporarily released Nasrin Sotoudeh, an internationally renowned human rights lawyer who was jailed two years ago on spying and propaganda charges, the judiciary's news agency reported on Saturday.…

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Iran reports record daily COVID-19 cases, announces new curbs

Iran announced new lockdown curbs on Saturday after registering a record daily number of COVID-19 cases and another 423 deaths from the disease in the Middle East's worst-hit country. The…

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Iran’s Rouhani says U.S. policies important, not who becomes president

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the result of the U.S. election was not important for the country's clerical rulers, but that the next president in Washington should respect…

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Iran’s coronavirus cases surpass 600,000

Iran’s confirmed COVID-19 cases crossed the 600,000 threshold on Friday with 8,011 infections identified in the past 24 hours, a Health Ministry spokeswoman told state TV, as the country’s death…

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Iran reports COVID-19 death every five minutes, hospitals struggle

Hospitals in many Iranian provinces are running out of capacity to handle COVID-19 cases, health authorities say, with novel coronavirus now killing around 300 people a day or one person…

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Iran sees no arms buying spree as it expects U.N. embargo to end

Iran said it was self-reliant in its defense and had no need to go on a weapons buying spree as a United Nations conventional arms embargo was due to expire…

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Iranian ports targeted in cyberattack

One of the targets of large cyber attacks on two Iranian government institutions this week was the electronic infrastructure of the country’s ports, an Iranian news agency reported on Friday.…

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Gas explosion kills 5, destroys building in Iran

A suspected gas explosion flattened a building and shops in a marketplace in southwest Iran on Sunday, killing at least five people, a fire official said, in the latest in…

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Iran warns Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict could turn into regional war

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday warned of the danger of the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict turning into a regional war. “We must be attentive that the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan…

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Schools and mosques closed in Tehran as COVID-19 infections rise

Schools, libraries, mosques and other public institutions in Tehran were closed for a week on Saturday as part of measures to stem a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, state media…

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Iran says ready to facilitate talks

Iran has called for an end to the fighting and said it was ready to facilitate talks and a ceasefire between its two neighbours. Iran “is closely following the military…

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Iranian president accuses U.S. of savagery after new sanctions

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Saturday of “savagery” for inflicting $150 billion of damage on Iran due to sanctions, and said Iranians should direct their anger…

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Earthquake of magnitude 5.2 strikes north-eastern Iran

An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 struck northeastern Iran on the border with Turkmenistan on Saturday, state Iranian TV reported. It gave no immediate information on possible casualties or damage from…

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Iran says it is ready to swap all prisoners with U.S

Iran is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the United States, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a virtual address to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York…

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Britain, France, Germany say U.N. sanctions relief for Iran to continue beyond Sept. 20

Britain, France and Germany told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that U.N. sanctions relief for Iran - agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal - would continue beyond Sept. 20,…

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Iranian fuel tankers round Africa en route to the Atlantic

Two Iranian-flagged tankers transporting fuel are sailing round Africa’s Cape of Good Hope en route to the Atlantic Ocean, according to Refinitiv Eikon’s vessel tracking data. The medium-size vessels Forest…

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Iranian wrestler executed

Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari was executed on Saturday after being convicted of stabbing a security guard to death during anti-government protests in 2018, state media said, in a case that…

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Photo Story: Photos from the Iranian military exercises in Gulf and Oman Sea

Handout photos made available by Iranian Army official website of military exercise in Persian Gulf, near strategic strait of Hormuz, southern Iran, 12 September 2020. Saturday was the last day…

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PhotoStory – Iran’s Ashura celebration

An Iranian Shiite Muslim girl wearing face mask attends the Tasua (ninth day of Muharram) mourning ceremony, ahead of Ashura Day, at the Tehran's university Tehran, Iran, 29 August 2020. The…

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Iran says black boxes from downed Ukraine jet show missiles hit 25 seconds apart

Iran is calling on all countries involved to refrain from politicising data analysis from the blackboxes of a Ukrainian passenger plane that Tehran said it accidentally shot downed in January,…

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EU to chair Iran nuclear joint commission meeting

The joint commission on the Iran nuclear agreement will meet in Vienna on September 1, the European Union has said, after the U.S. and its European allies sparred over Washington's…

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Iran announces locally made ballistic and cruise missiles amid U.S. tensions

Iran displayed a surface-to-surface ballistic missile on Thursday that Defence Minister Amir Hatami said had a range of 1,400 kilometres and a new cruise missile, ignoring U.S. demands that Tehran…

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Iran surpasses 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus

Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the health ministry said — the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic. The…

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UAE summons Iran charge d’affairs

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Abu Dhabi in response to a speech by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani over its agreement to normalise ties with…

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Iran’s president says Emirates made ‘huge mistake’ with Israel deal

The United Arab Emirates has made a "huge mistake" in reaching a deal toward normalising ties with Israel, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech furiously condemning…

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U.S. says seized four Iranian fuel shipments en route to Venezuela

The United States announced it had confiscated four Iranian fuel shipments that had been bound for Venezuela, disrupting a key supply line for both Tehran and Caracas as they defied…

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UN Security Council rejects resolution calling for extension of Iran arms embargo

The United Nations Security Council has rejected a US resolution to extend an Iranian arms embargo, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday, in a move with repercussions for the…

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Putin proposes summit to avoid U.N. ‘confrontation’ over Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday proposed a video summit with the United States, Britain, France, China, Germany and Iran in a bid to avoid "confrontation and escalation" at the…

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Iran’s Khamenei rejects talks with U.S. over missile, nuclear programmes

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ruled out negotiations with the United States over Tehran's ballistic missile and nuclear programmes on Friday and urged Iranians to resist U.S. pressure. "America's…

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Number of coronavirus cases in Iran passes 300,000

The number of infections from the new coronavirus in Iran has reached 301,530, according to official Health Ministry figures announced on state TV on Thursday. Iran has the Middle East’s…

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Iran says foreign states may have carried out cyberattacks

Iran’s foreign ministry said foreign governments may have been behind recent cyberattacks on Iranian facilities, but played down the possibility of them having a role in a series of fires…

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Passengers injured as US fighter jet comes close to Iranian plane

Several passengers on an Iranian airline have been injured over Syria after the pilot changed altitude to avoid collision with a US fighter jet, according to Iranian media, but the…

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Iran reports record single day death toll from coronavirus

Iran on Tuesday reported a new single-day record death toll of 229 from coronavirus, after weeks of rising numbers in the Middle East's worst-hit country. "Sadly, we lost 229 of…

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Work on flight recorders from Ukrainian jet shot down in Iran started

Investigators have begun work on the flight recorders from the Ukrainian jet accidentally shot down by Iran in January, France's BEA accident investigation bureau said on Monday. Iranian forces say…

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Iran executes former translator accused to spy for US and Mossad

Iran executed a former translator who had been accused of spying for US and the Israeli Mossad on Monday. "Mahmoud Mousavi Majd's sentence was carried out on Monday morning over the…

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Explosion in Iran’s Isfahan power plant

An explosion occurred at a power plant in Iran's central Isfahan province on Sunday but there were no casualties, the official IRNA news agency reported. The blast was caused by…

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Rouhani says 25 million Iranians infected with COVID-19

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 25 million Iranians have been infected with the coronavirus and that another 35 million are at risk of acquiring it. The figures,…

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Iran says chain of errors caused Ukrainian plane crash in January

Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation blamed a misalignment of a radar system and lack of communication between the air defence operator and his commanders for the accidental downing of a Ukrainian…

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Iran admits fire at Natanz nuclear facility caused significant damage

A fire that broke out at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility on Thursday has caused significant damage that could slow the development of advanced centrifuges, an Iranian nuclear official said.…

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Iran imposes new curbs as coronavirus toll rises

Iranians who do not wear masks will be denied state services and workplaces that fail to comply with health protocols will be shut for a week, President Hassan Rouhani said…

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Iran threatens retaliation after what it calls possible cyber attack on nuclear site

Iran will retaliate against any country that carries out cyber attacks on its nuclear sites, the head of civilian defence said, after a fire at its Natanz plant which some…

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Masks to become compulsory in parts of Iran

Mask-wearing will be mandatory in certain areas of Iran as of next week and virus-hit provinces can reimpose restrictive measures, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday. The Islamic republic has…

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Iran prepared to retaliate if U.S. stopped Venezuela-bound tankers

An Iranian news agency close to the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday Iran's naval forces were preparing to target U.S. commercial vessels in the Gulf last month in case…

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U.S. sanctions imposed on Iranian shipping network over proliferation take effect

U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran's shipping network took effect on Monday, months after they were announced in December following accusations of supporting proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. U.S. Secretary…

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Wedding party reported to have fuelled new COVID-19 surge in Iran

A wedding party contributed to a new surge in coronavirus infections in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday but insisted the country had no option but to keep its…

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Iran fears ‘second wave’ of infections

Virus infections are seeing a renewed spike in Iran with more than 3,000 new cases for the second consecutive day. Officials said there were 3,134 positive tests, taking the total…

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Iran sentenced French-Iranian academic to 5-year imprisonment

Iran has sentenced a 60-year-old French-Iranian academic to five years in prison over national security charges and allegations of propaganda against the state, her lawyer said on Saturday according to Middle East Eye. …

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Iranian navy ship sunk by friendly fire causing multiple deaths

An Iranian missile struck a support ship in a friendly-fire incident, killing at least 19 Iranian sailors and wounding several others during a naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman,…

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5.1 earthquake shakes Iran

At least one person was reported killed and seven others were injured, when a magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit northern Iran early on Friday (20:18 GMT on Thursday), according to the country's health…

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Afghanistan probes report Iranian border guards threw migrants into river with many drowning

Afghan officials on Sunday launched a hunt to retrieve bodies of Afghan migrants from a river in a western province after reports that Iranian border guards tortured and threw…

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