Iran

Tensions between Iran and the United States continued to ramp up as US President Donald Trump announced that a massive “armada” was heading toward the Persian Gulf. Led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, the presence of the fleet underscores increasingly bellicose relations between Washington and Tehran – and rising fears of a military confrontation.    

Turkey hosts urgent mediation as Trump’s threats mount and Tehran weighs painful compromises to avoid conflict

“Help is on its way,” the US president has told protesters in a cryptic message

Donald Trump has doubled down on striking Tehran after its supreme leader unleashed on the President in a series of tweets as widespread protests near two weeks.

The regime is cracking. But foreign powers have other plans for the Islamic republic.

The deportation flight to Iran is the most stark push yet by the Trump administration to deport migrants even to places with harsh human rights records.

Diplomats from Iran met with counterparts from China and Russia on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of top European powers reimposing international sanctions if there is no progress on nuclear talks by the end of August. Tehran is set to meet with the E3 (France, Britain and Germany) in Istanbul on Friday.

Iran said the decision by Britain, France and Germany to launch a 30-day process to reimpose UN sanctions over its nuclear programme  was a “provocative and unnecessary escalation” that would undermine the ongoing process of cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Australia’s government on Tuesday announced the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador, accusing Tehran of orchestrating anti-Semitic attacks in Melbourne and Sydney. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited intelligence services’ “deeply disturbing conclusion” that Iran was behind at least two such incidents.

The assessment came as experts are trying to determine how long it would take Iran to rebuild its nuclear program in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli strikes.

Speculation over Iran’s capacity to recover from Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear and military sites during its 12-day war with Israel were put to bed on Saturday after the UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told CBS news that Iran could produce enriched uranium “in a matter of months”.