Iran

Cecile Kohler, 41, and her partner, Jacques Paris, 72, had been jailed on charges of spying for France and Israel.

Iran has released two French nationals imprisoned for more than three years on spying charges their families rejected, French President Emmanuel Macron has said, though it remains uncertain when they would be allowed to return home.

Expressing “immense relief”, Macron said on X on Wednesday that Cecile Kohler, 41, and her partner Jacques Paris, 72 – the last French citizens officially known to be held in Iran – had been released from Evin prison in northern Tehran and were on their way to the French embassy.

He welcomed this “first step” and said talks were under way to ensure their return to France as “quickly as possible”.

The pair were arrested in May 2022 while visiting Iran. France had denounced their detention as “unjustified and unfounded”, while their families say the trip had been purely touristic in nature.

Both teachers, although Paris is retired, were among a number of Europeans caught up in what activists and some Western governments, including France, describe as a deliberate strategy of “hostage-taking” by Iran to extract concessions from the West.

Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said they had been granted “conditional release” on bail by the judge in charge of the case and “will be placed under surveillance until the next stage of the judicial proceedings”.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France 2 TV they were in “good health” at the French ambassador’s residence but declined to give details on when they would be allowed to leave Iran.

Their Paris-based legal team told the AFP news agency in a statement that the release had “ended their arbitrary detention which lasted 1,277 days”.

The release comes at a time of acute sensitivity in dealings between Tehran and the West in the wake of the US-Israel 12-day war in June against Iran and the reimposition of United Nations sanctions in the standoff over the Iranian nuclear programme, which the country insists is purely for civilian purposes.

Some Iranians are concerned that Israel will use the sanctions, which are already causing further economic duress in the country, as an excuse to attack again, as it used the resolution issued by the global nuclear watchdog in June as a pretext for a war that was cheered by Israeli officials and the public alike.

The French pair’s sentences on charges of spying for France and Israel, issued last month after a closed-door trial, amounted to 17 years in prison for Paris and 20 years for Kohler.

Concern grew over their health after they were moved from Evin following an Israeli attack on the prison during the June war.

Kohler was shown in October 2022 on Iranian television in what activists described as a “forced confession”, a practice relatively common for detainees in Iran, which rights groups say is equivalent to torture.

Her parents, Pascal and Mireille, told AFP in a statement that they felt “immense relief” that the pair were now in a “little corner of France”, even if “all we know for now is that they are out of prison”.

France had filed a case with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over their detention, saying they were held under a policy that “targets French nationals travelling in or visiting Iran”.

But in September, the ICJ suddenly dropped the case at France’s request, prompting speculation that closed-door talks were under way between the two countries for their release.

Iran has said the duo could be freed as part of a swap deal with France, which would also see the release of Iranian Mahdieh Esfandiari.

Esfandiari was arrested in France in February on charges of promoting “terrorism” on social media, according to French authorities.

Scheduled to go on trial in Paris from January 13, she was released on bail last month in a move welcomed by Tehran.

Barrot declined to comment when asked by France 2 if there had been a deal with Tehran.

Among the Europeans still jailed by Iran is Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was sentenced to death in 2017 on espionage charges his family vehemently rejects.

Tehran, Iran – Iran is “not in a hurry” to resume talks with the United States over its nuclear programme, Tehran’s foreign minister has told Al Jazeera.

Iran remains prepared to engage in indirect negotiations with Washington if the US chooses to talk “from an equal position based on mutual interest”, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera Arabic in an interview at his office in Tehran that was broadcast on Sunday.

The official also asserted that a critical “shared understanding” regarding Israel is developing across the region.

Tehran’s top diplomat said conditions set by the US for talks to resume – which reportedly include an emphasis on direct negotiations, zero uranium enrichment, and limits on Iran’s missile stocks and its support for regional allies – are “illogical and unfair”.

That makes talks untenable, he suggested.

“It appears they are not in a hurry,” he remarked. “We are not in a hurry, either.”

Araghchi’s insistence comes despite the pressure from reimposed United Nations sanctions and other challenges facing the Iranian establishment.

Rather, the foreign minister said he believes regional dynamics are turning against Israel, the US’s closest ally in the Middle East.

“I sometimes tell my friends that Mr Netanyahu is a war criminal who has committed every atrocity, but did something positive in proving to the entire region that Israel is the main enemy, not Iran, and not any other country,” Araghchi said in reference to the Israeli prime minister.

The comments came two days after Oman’s chief diplomat, for the first time, publicly joined the chorus of disapproval aimed at Netanyahu and his hardline government.

“We have long known that Israel, not Iran, is the primary source of insecurity in the region,” Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi told the audience at the IISS Manama Dialogue 2025 regional forum.

He said over the years, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has “at best sat back and permitted the isolation of Iran”, a stance that he believes “needs to change”.

In the past 48 hours, the heinous lie that the unlawful Israeli and U.S. bombing of Iran was motivated by an imminent nuclear threat has been thoroughly debunked by

– The International Atomic Energy Agency Chief, who has explicitly stated that Iran “is not and was not”… pic.twitter.com/C2uBzBLOHD

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) November 2, 2025

Oman has for years acted as a mediator between Iran and the US in nuclear, financial, prisoner exchange and other regional issues.

Tehran and Washington were slated to sit down for a sixth round of talks in mid-June, when Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities. That launched a 12-day war that killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and inflicted billions of dollars in infrastructure damage.

After media reports last week said the administration of US President Donald Trump had sent a new message to Tehran via Oman, Iran’s government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed that messages had been received.

But she did not elaborate on the content or Iran’s potential response. The White House has not publicly confirmed sending the missive.

During his interview, Araghchi said “almost all” of the about 400kg (880lb) of 60-percent enriched uranium possessed by Iran is “buried under the rubble” of nuclear facilities bombed by the US and Israel.

“We have no intention of removing them from under the rubble until conditions are ready. We have no information on how much of the 400kg is untouched and how much is destroyed, and we will have no information until we dig them out,” he said.

The Iranian foreign minister pointed out that China and Russia have formally announced they do not recognise the UN sanctions recently reimposed against Iran by the European signatories to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

France, the United Kingdom and Germany have signalled they want to restart talks with Tehran. However, no substantial progress has been made.

In the meantime, they have imposed sanctions and restrictions, both in relation to Iran’s alleged drone exports to Russia and its nuclear programme.

The three European powers in September announced they were suspending their bilateral air services agreements with Iran, affecting Iranian carriers like Iran Air.

Some of the flights appear to be gradually coming back, though, with Iranian state television airing footage of an Austrian Airlines flight landing in Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Sunday night.

Germany’s Lufthansa is also scheduled to resume flights to Tehran, but the precise restart date has not been publicly announced.

A historic drought in the country has culminated in a ‘100 percent drop in precipitation’ in the Tehran region.

The main source of drinking water for residents of the Iranian capital Tehran is at risk of running dry within two weeks, according to state media, due to a historic drought plaguing the country.

The Amir Kabir Dam, one of five that provide drinking water for Tehran, “holds just 14 million cubic metres of water, which is eight percent of its capacity”, the director of the capital’s water company, Behzad Parsa, was quoted as saying by the IRNA news agency on Sunday.

At that level, it can only continue to supply Tehran with water “for two weeks”, he warned.

The announcement comes as the country experiences its worst drought in decades. The level of rainfall in Tehran province was “nearly without precedent for a century”, a local official declared last month.

The megacity of more than 10 million people is nestled against the southern slopes of the often snow-capped Alborz Mountains, which soar as high as 5,600 metres (18,370 feet) and whose rivers feed multiple reservoirs.

A year ago, the Amir Kabir dam held back 86 million cubic metres of water, Parsa said, but there had been a “100 percent drop in precipitation” in the Tehran region.

Parsa did not provide details on the status of the other reservoirs in the system.

According to Iranian media, the population of Tehran consumes around three million cubic metres of water each day.

As a water-saving measure, supplies have reportedly been cut off to several neighbourhoods in recent days, while outages were frequent this summer.

In July and August, two public holidays were declared to save water and energy, with power cuts an almost daily occurrence amid a heatwave that saw temperatures rise beyond 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in Tehran and exceed 50C (122F) in some areas.

“The water crisis is more serious than what is being discussed today,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned at the time.

Water scarcity is a major issue throughout Iran, particularly in arid provinces in the country’s south, with shortages blamed on mismanagement and overexploitation of underground resources, as well as the growing impact of climate change.

Iran’s neighbour Iraq is experiencing its driest year on record since 1993, as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which flow into the Persian Gulf from West Asia, have seen their levels drop by up to 27 percent due to poor rainfall and upstream water restrictions, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis in the country’s south.

Tehran, Iran – President Masoud Pezeshkian unveiled a “Gen Z adviser” about a month ago, posing for a smiling photo with him that went viral online.

The adviser, Amirreza Ahmadi, told local media that he sees his mission as listening to the youth of Iran, “from Tehran to the borders of this country”, going so far as to share his mobile number.

But he later blocked commenting on his social media profiles after criticism from users who claimed that Ahmadi did not “resemble” Gen Z Iranians, was using bots to boost his social media accounts, and had no established connection with youth groups or students demanding change.

The appointment appears to have been part of an effort by the moderate administration, which promised improved social freedoms and lifted sanctions during election campaigns, to connect with younger generations, who have been driving political change across Asia and globally.

Pezeshkian and his administration have struggled, though – partly as a result of indifference from many young Iranians to their overtures, and partly because many of the Iranian establishment’s more hardline factions have little interest in appeasing the youth.

Sanam Vakil, director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the Iranian state is struggling to speak the language of a generation that grew up online and outside its ideological frame.

As such, she added, its outreach “feels transactional rather than transformative and ultimately is directed to staving off unrest and protests”, while the hardline elite’s fear of losing control outweighs any concern about losing the young.

“That imbalance keeps Iran locked in a politics of repression rather than renewal. I think the system will be locked between conflicting messages, narratives, and policies,” she told Al Jazeera.

Many of the people defying aspects of state controls are Gen Z youth, who are, like most Iranians, also crushed by the deteriorating economic conditions and rampant inflation amid corruption and mismanagement.

Testing the boundaries

With Israel and its Western allies openly touting regime change in Iran since the 12-day war between them in June, authorities say they recognise that public support is needed to get the country through difficult conditions, including reinstated UN sanctions and the lingering threat of war.

This forced some officials, mostly those in the more moderate or pragmatic camps, to advocate for dialling down some controls on social freedoms.

Former President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate camp leader, last week criticised hardline lawmakers and politicians for advancing legislation opposed by an overwhelming majority of Iranians, in a likely reference to the contentious issue of mandatory hijab.

The government has said it will not enforce the law.

Iranshahr, Tehran

pic.twitter.com/8nIaJAZVAO

— Arash Azizi آرش عزیزی (@arash_tehran) October 25, 2025

But, on the other hand, hardline factions within the establishment have mobilised to reintroduce as many restrictions as possible.

A video recorded in downtown Tehran went viral online this week, showing young men and women, who disregarded the dress code imposed by the theological establishment, enjoying a street music performance.

After years of musicians defying a state ban on street performances, they have become increasingly common, but still face crackdowns if they get too much attention.

At least one of the band members had their Instagram account closed by Iranian authorities, with the police posting on the account that it was shut down by judicial order due to “publishing criminal content”.

The authorities have not publicly confirmed whether the band member could face further punishment.

Hardline conservative media outlets this week reported another crackdown in Tehran.

Ticket sales for a “disco that included naked women dancing with boys” in the Pakdasht area were stopped, and legal cases were opened against organisers, according to the state-run Fars news website, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This was in reference to an electronic music event that had been running for weeks and was selling tickets legally after obtaining the required permits from the authorities.

Dancing in public spaces, especially when done by men and women together, are prohibited and at times, punished by Iranian authorities.

Drinking alcohol remains outlawed, as well, leading to some Iranians purchasing smuggled goods or dangerous homemade products. Alcohol tainted with ethanol and other chemicals continues to claim dozens of lives each year.

But some cafes and restaurants continue to hire DJs – and at times, serve alcohol – despite the restrictions.

In mid-September, authorities permanently shut down a major restaurant located in Tehran’s Nahjol Balaghe Park because a clip showed people dancing to music inside and because alcohol was allegedly served there.

Several clothing shops and other vendors have been shut down over recent weeks after they held events where young people danced in attendance.

In mid-September, authorities also cancelled a major public concert at Tehran’s iconic Azadi Tower that was initially conceived by the government as a demonstration of national unity.

The apparent contradiction between the positions of different factions within the establishment highlights the nature of Iran – with the government not necessarily having the final say in diffferent matters, and other forces, such as the Revolutionary Guard, able to defy government policy.

Hijab laws, online freedoms

The Supreme National Security Council has ordered authorities to stop heavily enforcing the controversial hijab law, which penalises women and men with prison time, being lashed or paying fines if the state determines their attire is improper.

Iran experienced months of deadly nationwide protests in 2022 and 2023 after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested over her hijab.

However, some so-called “morality police” vans have been seen in cities across the country, even though Pezeshkian’s government said no budget had been dedicated towards it.

Another group defying the system in Iran are women riding motorcycles, as the state still won’t issue them motorcycle licences.

The government introduced legislation to allow women to ride, but it is stuck in a parliament dominated by hardline lawmakers after a record-low turnout in elections since 2020.

More women are riding motorcycles across the country, however, with hundreds filmed recently taking part in group rides in Tehran.

Pezeshkian’s government has also failed to honour another campaign promise: lifting draconian state bans on almost all global social media and tens of thousands of websites.

The government this week blamed Israel for the continued imposition of the tough internet restrictions, claiming that the controls would have been lifted had it not been for the June war.

Azadeh Moaveni, writer and associate professor at New York University, told Al Jazeera she does not believe any faction of the state enjoys broad support from the younger generation, as they haven’t been able to offer them anything substantial.

“Pragmatists within the state are just offering their own frustration, which is of zero value, and at best pointing out, as the president has, that he won’t enforce laws that the majority of the country opposes, like the hijab law,” she said.

Moaveni said the dynamic of loosening and tightening of social freedoms by the state to manage society was no longer working, partly due to the changes taking place in society and also because of the dire economic conditions and multiple ongoing crises reshaping daily life.

Tehran rebukes US plans for nuclear tests, citing hypocrisy over peaceful nuclear programme accusations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned calls by United States President Donald Trump for the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, calling the move both “regressive” and irresponsible”.

“Having rebranded its ‘Department of Defense’ as the ‘Department of War,’ a nuclear-armed bully is resuming testing of atomic weapons,” Araghchi wrote in a post on X late Thursday.

“The same bully has been demonising Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and threatening further strikes on our safeguarded nuclear facilities, all in blatant violation of international law,” he said.

Trump made the surprise announcement in a Truth Social post on Thursday shortly before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

Trump said he had instructed the Pentagon to immediately resume nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with other countries like Russia and China, whose nuclear weapons arsenal will match the US in “five years”, according to Trump.

Ankit Panda, a nuclear security expert and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that Trump’s decision was likely a response to recent actions by Russia and China rather than Washington’s ongoing dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this week that Moscow had tested its Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo, after separately testing new Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missiles earlier in the month, according to the Reuters news agency.

China also recently displayed its nuclear prowess at a military parade in September, which featured new and modified nuclear weapons systems like the Dongfeng-5 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.

Having rebranded its “Department of Defense” as the “Department of War”, a nuclear-armed bully is resuming testing of atomic weapons. The same bully has been demonizing Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and threatening further strikes on our safeguarded nuclear facilities, all in… pic.twitter.com/ft4ZGWnFiw

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) October 30, 2025

Despite these public displays of firepower, neither Russia nor China has carried out a nuclear test – defined as a nuclear explosion above ground, underground, or underwater – in decades, according to the United Nations.

Nuclear testing is banned by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty of 1996. The US, China, and Iran all signed but have not ratified the original treaty, while Russia withdrew its ratification in 2023.

Moscow carried out its last nuclear test in 1990 while still the Soviet Union, and China carried out its last nuclear test in 1996, according to the UN. The last nuclear test by the United Kingdom was in 1991, followed by the US in 1992 and France in 1996. North Korea is the only country that has carried out nuclear tests in the past two decades, with its last test in 2017.

Trevor Findlay, a nuclear security expert and honorary professional fellow at the University of Melbourne, told Al Jazeera that it was unclear what type of testing Trump was referring to in his post.

“My assumption is that he means missile launches of nuclear-capable missiles, as North Korea and Russia have been doing very publicly. These do not carry an actual nuclear warhead [but likely a dummy], nor do they create a nuclear explosion,” he said.

“The US already tests its own missiles periodically, both existing ones and ones in development, often splashing down in the Pacific. It does announce them but tends not to make a big deal of it, like North Korea and Russia,” he said.

Trump, meanwhile, has called for the “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear programme and says he does not want Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon. In June, the US and Israel also carried out air strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities in part to slow its progress.

Tehran has maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only, and it has never carried out a nuclear test, according to the Carnegie Endowment’s Panda.

“Iran has never done any nuclear tests. They’ve constantly been saying they are not intending to make a nuclear bomb,” Panda told Al Jazeera. “The only thing that Iran has which might be taken seriously is some highly enriched uranium. That’s it. They have not even tested a nuclear ballistic missile.”

All over Los Angeles, Zachary Asdourian hunted for the music of an Iran that could have been.

The co-founder of the L.A. record label Discotchari scoured for dust-caked Persian pop records at Jordan Market in Woodland Hills; scanned the fliers for shows at Cabaret Tehran in Encino, and combed shops in Glendale looking for Farsi-language tapes cut in L.A. studios in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Most of the songs he and his label partner, Anaïs Gyulbudaghyan, sought were long-forgotten dance tracks, culturally-specific twists to the era’s disco boom. They’re poignant reminders of a time in L.A.’s Westwood “Tehrangeles” neighborhood when, in the years just after the 1979 Iranian revolution, immigrants here made music while their homeland roiled with ascendant theocracy.

Discotchari’s new crate-digger compilation “Tehrangles Vice” collects some of the best of them. Its 12 tracks were made in L.A. and circulated within the Iranian diaspora, then smuggled back into Iran on dubbed tapes and satellite broadcasts. They’re largely lost to time here, but fondly recalled there as bombastic dispatches from a cosmopolitan yet heartbroken immigrant community in L.A.

The music has lessons for artists watching the revanchist conservatism creeping over the United States today.

“These songs were supposed to represent the next step in Iranian music,” Asdourian said. “These artists were geniuses at shaking up what was happening in the ‘80s and ‘90s to produce an Iranian version of it. This music was meant to be heard at a party while dancing and drinking in Tehrangeles, but it also provided solace during the Islamic revolution, the Iraq war and the Iran-Contra affair. For citizens of Iran, this was giving hope as bombs were literally falling.”

The music scene this compilation documents came after a period of more stable relationships between the U.S. and Iran. Thousands of Iranian students immigrated to L.A. in the ‘60s and ‘70s and stayed, some opening restaurants and nightclubs in Westwood, Glendale and the San Fernando Valley where they could hear Iranian music.

“A lot of these clubs in L.A. pre-dated the revolution. Artists like Googoosh were already coming in from Iran to perform. Many musicians who were in U.S. when the revolution happened thought they were having a little sojourn and intended to go back someday,” said Farzaneh Hemmasi, a professor of ethnomusicology at the University of Toronto who wrote the book “Tehrangeles Dreaming: Intimacy and Imagination in Southern California’s Iranian Pop Music” and contributed the liner notes for “Tehrangeles Vice.”

An insert from a cassette tape that Farokh “Elton” Ahi previously worked on.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

“But after the 1979 revolution, musicians in Los Angeles were told by family in Iran not to go back, that they were rounding up artists, that people associated with westernization and immorality will be targeted,” Hemmasi said. “So they stayed and worked.”

One of them was Farokh “Elton” Ahi, who came to L.A. at 17 to study architecture at USC, but left that career to produce for Casablanca Records, the premier disco label of the era. He DJ’ed at Studio 54 in NYC and elite nightclubs in L.A., and produced for the likes of Donna Summer and Elton John at his Hollywood studio, Rusk (Ahi got his nickname from an interviewer who called him “Elton Joon,” a Farsi-language term of endearment).

Even in the decadent disco era, he felt an obligation to champion Iranian music in L.A.

“We wanted kids to enjoy the link between our culture and western culture,” Ahi said. “But we were also trying to bring what was happening in Iran to people’s attention with our music, which was one reason I could never go back there. Kids who had come from Iran loved Prince and Michael Jackson and were becoming super American, so we had to do something to keep them engaged in our music as well.”

During the 1979 hostage crisis, Anglo nightclubs and radio in L.A. were not keen on Persian pop music, to say the least. Ahi led a double life as an Americanized disco producer, while also writing for his immigrant community.

“Those days, because of the hostage crisis, it wasn’t fun and games having Iranian music in the club. People were against Iranians and it wasn’t a happy time,” Ahi said. “But we were making quality music with limited resources. There were not many musicians here who could play Iranian instruments, so I had to learn a bunch of them. I felt a duty to keep our music alive.”

Two ‘80s-era tracks he produced, Susan Roshan’s “Nazanin” and Leila Forouhar’s “Hamsafar,” appear on “Tehrangeles Vice,” which brims with the only-in-L.A. cultural collusion of mournful Persian melodies and lyrics about exile, paired with new wave grit and ‘80s synth-disco pulses. Aldoush’s “Vay Az in Del” has sample-blasted horns right out of the ‘80s TV show that gives the compilation its name. There’s even a strong Latin percussive element on tracks like Shahram Shabpareh and Shohreh Solati’s “Ghesmat,” which showed how Iranian artists dipped into the global crossroads of Los Angeles.

Even if this music didn’t make an impact on the charts here, it found its way back to post-revolution Iran clandestinely, on tapes and music video satellite broadcasts. Club-friendly pop music made in L.A. took on new potency abroad.

“The official culture in Iran in the ‘80s was very sorrowful because of the war, and Shiite Islam was very oriented towards mourning. Ramadan was a sad time with no music,” Hemmasi said. “But in L.A., you’ve got Iranians dancing and singing, which was not happening within the country where people needed to sing and dance even more. This music had a contraband quality that was underground in Iran itself.”

“A lot of Iranian artists wouldn’t like this comparison, but this music was really punk at its core,” Asdourian agreed. “You’d have people standing on street corners in trench coats selling cassettes. People had illegal satellite hookups to hear news and ideology from the diaspora that contradicted what they were being fed. This music was a means to restore values they felt were lost in the revolution.”

Top to bottom, Farokh “Elton” Ahi with record label Discotchari founders Zachary Asdourian and Anais Gyulbudaghyan in Los Angeles.

(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)

As contemporary Angelenos rallying for this era of Iranian music, Asdourian and Gyulbudaghyan of Discotchari will stop at nothing to ship murkily-sourced tapes from Iran, western Asia and the Caucasus for their label. “In January, we went to Armenia and met a guy who knew a guy at a restaurant in Yerevan who had someone drive tapes in from Tabriz in Iran,” Asdourian said. “They sent us GPS coordinates to pick them up, and we ended up in this abandoned former Soviet manufacturing district getting chased by a guard dog. But he had 30 cassettes, all still sealed in their boxes.”

Yet some of the acts on “Tehrangeles Vice” are still active, living and working in California. After a long hiatus, Roshan recently released new music inspired by Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement, and Ahi is a sound engineer and mixer for film (he worked on “Last of the Mohicans,” which won an Oscar for sound mixing). He recently contributed to a remix of Ed Sheeran’s “Azizam,” which sprinkles Farsi phrasing into upbeat pop and became a global hit. “Ed reached out and asked me to write some melodies that matched Googoosh’s singing to make it more international, we put our minds together and I’m so proud of it,” Ahi said.

As the United States now reckons with its own powerful right-wing religious movement in government, one eager to clamp down on cultural dissent, “Tehrangeles Vice” has lessons for musicians in the wake of a backlash. The compilation is both a specific document of a proud music culture clamping down at home and flowering abroad. But it’s also a reminder that, whether made in exile or played under attack, art is a well of possibility for imagining another life.

“Even if the geographical location isn’t same, for Iranians, L.A. represents this exiled piece of history, an Iran that could have been,” Hemmasi said. “It’s a message in a bottle from another time.”

In a realist world, power is rarely exercised alone. It takes coordination, sustained support, and mutual loyalty to project strength. That is the foundation of any enduring alliance. Since the Cold War, Western powers have built a sophisticated web of strategic alliances, sometimes tested but still intact. Even amid nationalist disruptions under figures like Donald Trump or Viktor Orbán, the Western alliance remains functional and coherent. But what about the non-Western bloc, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and others?

The truth is that non-Western alliances remain weak, fragmented, and often symbolic. Lacking geographic proximity, institutional architecture, or political cohesion, these alliances fail to act in unison, especially in moments of crisis. Military cooperation, defense technology sharing, and strategic communication remain alarmingly underdeveloped.

The recent Israeli attack on Iran exposed this blatantly. Reportedly Isreal forces used the Jordanian and Iraqi airspace, struck Iranian nuclear and military facilities, killing multiple top officials. While rumors circulated about an imminent war, Iran’s response was surprisingly feeble. It’s defense systems failed to intercept the attacks, and its military preparedness appeared outdated from the start. But recent retaliation followed a little bit of promise.

The United States denied direct involvement. Yet Washington, alongside the European allies, refrained from condemning the strike. Germany, France, and the United Kingdom stood silent, indirectly backing Israel through intelligence sharing, military cooperation, and diplomatic support. Their strategic coordination remains strong, despite tensions over Iran’s nuclear program.

What about Iran’s Non-Western allies?

Russia, arguably Iran’s closest partner, is deeply engaged in its own war in Ukraine. Yet strategic alliances are tested precisely in such moments. Iran and Russia have long shared regional interests in Syria and other part of the Middle East. Now, that cooperation seems one-sided. While Russia uses Iranian drones in Ukraine, Tehran receives little in return. No warning, no defense coordination, and certainly no technological assistance ahead of Israel’s strike.

Why hasn’t Russia helped accelerate Iran’s nuclear program as Western powers once did for Israel? Where was the intelligence sharing, the strategic dialogue? These absences raise serious questions about Russia’s role in the non-Western alliance framework: Is it simply a transactional partner or something more?

China is a different story. With an advanced defense industry and growing geopolitical clout, Beijing has demonstrated capability. The recent deployment of Chinese J-10C jets to Pakistan, for example, during tensions with India, signaled a serious technological and symbolic counterweight to Western influence. China even provided real-time intelligence to Pakistan. But where was this level of support for Iran? Through recent rumor said, there are couple of military assistance provided to Iran but still not like ally.

A newly inaugurated Iran-China railroad project suggests growing economic ties, but modern alliances require more than trade. Strategic defense coordination is fundamental. Despite Iran’s geopolitical relevance, Beijing remains largely absent in Iran’s security calculus.

Then there is Iran’s own regional network, its so-called “axis of resistance.” Historically, Iran projected strength through proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. But this too is unraveling. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh were both reportedly killed by Israeli operations, Haniyeh during an official visit in Tehran itself. These assassinations not only reflect Tehran’s inability to protect its partners but also signal a crisis of credibility. No meaningful retaliation followed. This absence of action weakens Iran’s reputation as a guarantor of its proxies’ survival.

The broader picture is troubling. Non-Western powers often operate like solo actors in a system that punishes isolation. The world is a dark forest; walk alone, and sooner or later, the wolves will find you. This is the lesson non-Western allies must internalize. Shared struggle requires shared commitment. Each country will always have its own domestic priorities, but alliances demand sacrifice, coordination, and strategic depth.

It seems like their trust-building process is yet to work. Or are they afraid to confront Western allies’ wrath over sanctions? China and Russia have been conducting business and various forms of economic cooperation with most of the Western blocs, despite sanctions threats and targeted regulations. These two nations need to step up and anchor the non-Western bloc. A multipolar world needs a table where bipolar allies can collaborate and pave the path for a democratic alliance for the world. Trump’s approach to Europe and other Western countries is not seen as a sign of alliance. So at this moment, non-Western countries can show unity. This not only gives the world new hope for cooperative living ideas but also threatens Trump’s leadership position on global order.

China has the defense capacity to empower allies but remains hesitant. Russia, once a superpower, is now locked in a war that undermines its influence and exposes its limits. In today’s geopolitical landscape, superpowers act more like coaches than players. Mediation, defense sharing, and regional stabilization efforts, rather than confrontation, are what build strategic resilience.

For the non-Western bloc, the Israel-Iran crisis must serve as a wake-up call. Without solidarity, without trust, and without strategy, they risk becoming a coalition of convenience. This also reflects unity in rhetoric but division and defeat in reality.

Iran also expresses commitment to diplomacy as landmark 10-year nuclear deal with Western powers officially ends.

Iran has said it is no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear programme as a landmark 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though Tehran reiterated its “commitment to diplomacy”.

From now on, “all of the provisions [of the 2015 deal], including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the related mechanisms are considered terminated,” Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday, the day of the pact’s expiration.

“Iran firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy,” it added.

The deal’s “termination day” was set for exactly 10 years after the adoption of resolution 2231, enshrined by the United Nations Security Council.

Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement between Iran and China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States saw the lifting of international sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme.

But Washington unilaterally left the deal in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office and reinstated sanctions. Tehran then began stepping up its nuclear programme.

Talks to revive the agreement have failed so far, and in August, the UK, Germany and France triggered the so-called “snapback” process, leading to the re-imposition of the UN sanctions.

“Termination day is relatively meaningless due to snapback,” Arms Control Association expert Kelsey Davenport told the AFP news agency.

Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group’s Iran project director, told AFP that while the nuclear deal had been “lifeless” for years, the snapback had “officially buried” the agreement, with “its sorry fate continuing to cast a shadow over the future”.

Western powers and Israel have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies.

Neither US intelligence nor the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said they found any evidence this year that Iran was pursuing atomic weapons.

Nuclear talks between Iran and world powers are currently deadlocked.

“Iran remains sceptical of the utility of engaging with the US given its history with President Trump, while Washington still seeks a maximalist deal,” Vaez told AFP.

On Monday, Trump said he wanted a peace deal with Iran, but stressed the ball was in Tehran’s court.

Tehran has repeatedly said it remains open to diplomacy with the US, provided Washington offers guarantees against military action during any potential talks.

The US joined Israel in striking Iran during a 12-day war in June, which hit nuclear sites, but also killed more than 1,000 Iranians, including hundreds of civilians, and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Angered that the IAEA did not condemn the attacks and accusing the agency of “double standards”, President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law in early July suspending all cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and prompting inspectors to leave the country.

For its part, the IAEA has described its inability to verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile since the start of the war “a matter of serious concern”.

The three European powers last week announced they will seek to restart talks to find a “comprehensive, durable and verifiable agreement”.

Iranian top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said during an interview last week that Tehran does “not see any reason to negotiate” with the Europeans, given they triggered the snapback mechanism.

A seasoned globetrotter has visited more than 90 countries and has one ‘soulless spot’ he has no desire to revisit – and its not just the culture that has put him off

A well-travelled explorer who has visited more than 90 nations spanning six continents has revealed which region he considers his worst destination.

Gabriel Morris, a globe-trotting YouTube content creator, has spent over three decades travelling the world.

To be precise, Gabriel has visited “97 United Nations member states plus the three disputed countries of Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, and Taiwan which do not have UN member status.”

Yet, there’s one ‘soulless spot’ from his vast travels that he has pledged never to return to.

With 613,000 subscribers on YouTube, Gabriel’s travel content regularly garners substantial attention and engagement from fellow explorers and enthusiasts keen to learn about his adventures, reports the Express.

In his latest video titled ‘I’ve Been to 100 Countries – Which Place is the Worst?’, the YouTuber revealed that the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf) ranks as the most disappointing location he’s experienced.

Speaking to his viewers, Gabriel explained: “I’ve seen a fair amount of the world and many of those countries I’ve been to over and over and travelled around a lot. I’ll just tell you at the beginning here, my least favourite part of the world is the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf).”

It’s worth noting Iran refers to it as the Persian Gulf, whilst the nations situated on the southern and western shores of the Gulf call it the Arabian Gulf.

So, why does Gabriel find the Persian Gulf region less appealing?

The content creator explains: “Now, I haven’t been to Iran, and Iran looks absolutely incredible. And so I’m not including Iran in this. I don’t know that along the Persian Gulf there is anything especially nice to see there.”

Gabriel has travelled to countless destinations around the Persian Gulf, including Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Jeddah, where he rented a vehicle for a day to explore beyond the urban limits, plus Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, encompassing Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Yet none of these destinations particularly enchanted him.

He said: “There’s a little bit more to see in the desert outside of the cities, but not very much. Mostly it’s just flat desert. Basically, I am thinking of the main cities on the Persian Gulf, and then including the cities of Saudi Arabia, which aren’t near the Persian Gulf but do border it. I just find these cities to be devoid of anything particularly interesting as a traveller. I find them to be very boring and stale.

“The streets are practically empty of people other than those in their cars. You don’t get the bustling, busy marketplace experience. All of those cities are built in a very similar style of massive skyscrapers. It makes for an impressive skyline, but then you get there on the ground and it’s big, wide streets that can be almost impossible to cross. There’s lots of traffic, massive distances, and not really anything that I want to do there. You can go in malls, you can go to some restaurants. Alcohol is banned for the most part, so that’s another drawback.”

Branding them as “soulless”, Gabriel added: “I just find them to be kind of soulless and not unique in any way. You could drop me in any one of those cities and not tell me which one it is, and unless you had a view of, say, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or some particular landmark, if you were in a typical neighbourhood you couldn’t distinguish it from any of the others. They’re all built exactly the same and just super boring. Now, they aren’t bad places to live necessarily or to raise a family. They are safe, they’re clean, and they’re hassle-free. There’s no hustling, scams, or anything really to worry about.”

Apart from Qatar and Dubai, which Gabriel ranks as his top two destinations respectively, Gabriel reckons that of all the places around the world, he has “no desire to go back to that part of the world”, though he admits the culture is “certainly fine”.

Nevertheless, Gabriel thinks there’s another problem at hand.

He explained: “Most of the people you’re going to interact with aren’t even the local Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris, Kuwaitis, or Bahrainis, because the local populations in all those countries are actually a minority. The majority of people you’ll encounter are workers from South Asia – Indians, Pakistanis, lots of Bangladeshis – who are working in restaurants, malls, hotels, and other service positions.

“The locals, as I understand it, receive paychecks from oil revenue and don’t really have to work, at least not in the typical service jobs. Maybe that’s not true in every country, but in general, if they are working, it’s more likely to be in business or professional roles, so you’re unlikely to interact with them as a visitor. That’s just one more thing that makes the experience feel kind of watered down – you don’t really get much of a local cultural experience. So, it’s nothing personal against the people,” Gabriel concludes. The digital creator had a rather unnerving encounter in Kuwait City when he was stopped and questioned for filming.

Recalling the incident, Gabriel shared: “I think it was in Kuwait City where I got questioned for filming. I was filming near one of the palaces – or something like that – and I had made a point of not filming one particular place that I thought could be a problem.

“But then I started filming something else, and a security guard waved me over. At that point, you definitely don’t want to run or try to avoid them, because that just makes things worse. So I walked over, and I believe he spoke English. He asked me what I was filming for, asked a few questions, and then let me go. But despite the relatively harmless outcome, it was still a very harrowing experience in the moment – being questioned by an authority figure without knowing how it’s going to play out.”

Reflecting on the potential outcomes of the encounter, Gabriel added: “They could easily say, “I want you to talk to my superior,” and then you’re being taken into some office where they’re suspicious of you and start asking more questions. It’s always a pretty traumatic experience, and it basically makes you want to leave. That’s exactly how I felt afterward-I just hoped I could get out of there without any more hassle. So that was one more drawback.”

During a trip to the Middle East marking the end of Israel’s war on Gaza, United States President Donald Trump turned to another source of strife in the region: the tensions between Tehran and Washington.

In remarks to the Israeli Knesset on Monday, Trump, who took the unprecedented step of bombing Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this year amid a 12-day war between Israel and Iran, offered a “hand of friendship”.

“We are ready when you are, and it will be the best decision that Iran has ever made, and it’s going to happen,” Trump said of a possible agreement with Tehran.

“The hand of friendship and cooperation is open. I’m telling you, they [Iran] want to make a deal. It would be great if we could make a deal.”

But despite the dovish rhetoric, the Trump administration has continued to take a hard line against Iran, and analysts say that a path towards better relations between the two countries remains filled with obstacles.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a US-based think tank, said that the Israeli and US attacks in June, which came as nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran were ongoing, undermined advocacy for diplomacy in Iran.

“There’s a perception that the US is using diplomacy to lull Iran into a false sense of security,” Parsi said.

‘Iran is open to a deal’

Iran itself has not closed the door to diplomacy, but its leaders have not rushed to renew talks with the US, either.

“If we receive a reasonable, balanced, and fair proposal from the Americans for negotiations, we will certainly consider it,” Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi said during a television interview on Saturday.

Iran had rejected an Egyptian invitation to attend a summit on the war in Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, citing US attacks and sanctions.

Talks over Iran’s nuclear programme have not resumed since the Trump administration’s bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. Israel started the war in June, days before the US and Iranian officials were set for another round of talks.

The US, which during Trump’s first term in 2018 withdrew from a previous deal limiting Iran’s nuclear programme, has also insisted that any new agreement include a total ban on Iranian uranium enrichment.

That demand goes beyond the original deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which only curbed Iran’s uranium enrichment programme under a strict international inspection system.

Iran has depicted that new demand as a denial of its rights as a sovereign country, noting that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) does not prohibit uranium enrichment.

The impasse over enrichment has become a sticking point in negotiations.

“Iran is open to a deal,” Parsi told Al Jazeera. “But regardless of Trump’s positive tone and kind words, what he is looking for is for Iran to capitulate. As long as he insists on zero enrichment, I don’t think he will get a deal.”

Israel’s war with Iran, which included Israel’s assassination of high-level military figures and civilian nuclear scientists, as well as air strikes that killed hundreds of people, has also increased scepticism about the prospects of a lasting deal with the US.

In a speech to the Knesset on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the US decision to bomb Iran during the war as a “biblical miracle”.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Israel has struck a series of blows against Iran and allied groups, such as Hezbollah, across the Middle East, leaving it significantly weakened and giving the US little incentive to make concessions on uranium enrichment and other issues.

Trump often reiterates that Iran’s nuclear programme has been “obliterated” by the US strikes on key facilities, but the extent of the damage remains unclear.

The Pentagon said earlier this year that the Iranian nuclear programme had been set back by one to two years. But Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has said that Iran could be enriching uranium again within months.

Trump can ‘let Iran sweat’

Iran insists that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, while Israel is widely believed to possess an undeclared nuclear arsenal.

Gregory Brew, an Iran analyst at the US-based Eurasia Group, argued that time is on Trump’s side in the confrontation with Iran.

“Trump can sound optimistic about diplomacy, but he can also afford to wait and let Iran sweat,” Brew told Al Jazeera via email.

“With its nuclear programme in ruins, and with new Israeli strikes likely if Iran takes steps to rebuild the programme, [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei and the rest of the leadership don’t have many good options.”

Iran is also facing renewed sanctions from the UN after France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered a so-called snapback of sanctions in August, arguing that Iran had violated the terms of the JCPOA.

Tehran countered that the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in 2018, and called another deal allowing inspections of its nuclear facilities by the IAEA “no longer relevant” after the US and Israeli strikes.

Iran was incensed at the IAEA for failing to condemn strikes against its nuclear facilities, which Tehran argues are protected under international law.

“There’s no upside for Trump in resuming talks without Iranian concessions, and there’s currently little downside in letting pressure build, as Iran has been weakened to the point that its ability to threaten Israel or US interests in the region is fairly limited,” said Brew.

“Trump may be willing to let the matter rest for a few months to see if increased economic pain forces Iran back to the negotiating table on favourable terms.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump is declaring Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip over and has already barreled ahead toward far larger goals — arguing that the fragile ceasefire his administration helped broker is a chance to bring a lasting peace to the greater Middle East.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is equally exuberant about the present, but far more measured in his assessments going forward. He’s characterized the deal, which is still in its early stages, as “a proposal to free hostages and end the war” while also saying that his country used two years of often brutal war in Gaza to showcase its military might.

The pair seemingly offering strikingly different perspectives about the prospects for future peace is noteworthy given just how much each lavished the other with praise during speeches before the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Monday.

But it also reflects just how different the political and diplomatic stakes may be for each leader going forward.

That’s especially true given that Trump could see his reputation as an international dealmaker tested by a ceasefire that could yet prove precarious, while Netanyahu may have to focus on domestic issues and keeping the Israeli electorate happy given that he’s set to face election no later than next October.

‘You’ve won’ vs. ‘Our enemies now understand’

Trump gleefully added the Israel-Hamas war as No. 8 on the list of global conflicts he’d claimed to have solved — even if that tally exaggerates the role he played in calming some global hot spots. He also declared that the ceasefire would usher in a new “dawn of a new Middle East.”

“You’ve won,” he said of Israel, encouraging the U.S. ally to see the limitations of military force in bringing about enduring peace. “Now it is time to translate these victories against terrorists on the battlefield into the ultimate prize of peace and prosperity for the entire Middle East.”

That followed Netanyahu using his own speech to say, “Our enemies now understand just how powerful and just how determined Israel is.”

Recalling Hamas’ attack on Israel two years ago that sparked the war, he had a message for his country’s adversaries: “Understand that attacking Israel on Oct. 7 was a catastrophic mistake.”

Referring to the militant group Hamas, Netanyahu said, “These monsters take babies as hostages,” adding that “Israel did what it had to do.”

Over the last two years, Netanyahu was steadfast in vowing to achieve “total victory” over Hamas — not only returning the hostages released as part of the ceasefire agreement, but also disarming the group and pounding it into surrender. With Hamas weakened but still intact, he’s fallen far short of that goal.

Trump’s plan also holds out the possibility of Palestinian statehood one day — something that Netanyahu and his coalition partners oppose. By declaring an end to the war, Netanyahu could see his government crumble and be forced into an early election at a time when his popularity remains low and his war goals remain unfulfilled.

‘Economic development’ vs. ‘Civilization against barbarism’

Trump has long approached diplomacy as he would dealmaking in the business world. He’s now saying that promoting economic interests in the greater Middle East can help bridge divides and foster cooperation — even among the most bitter of historical foes.

The president suggested Monday that wealthy Arab countries would be willing to help finance an end to the fighting to promote prosperity in one of the world’s most volatile regions.

“The total focus of Gazans must be on restoring the fundamentals of stability, safety, dignity and economic development,” Trump said.

Netanyahu said he hoped the future would bring “peace inside Israel and peace outside Israel.” But rather than echo Trump’s excitement about regionwide unity through economic development, he called for a future “that will unite civilization against barbarism, light against darkness and hope against despair.”

‘Ready when you are’ vs. ‘Terror axis’

Another key point where Trump and Netanyahu diverged was on Iran.

Trump praised U.S. strikes in June, which he has characterized as a knockout blow against Iran’s nuclear program: “We took a big cloud off of the Middle East and off of Israel.”

But he also acknowledged that Tehran may have a role in helping achieve larger Middle East peace, saying that when it comes to Iran and possible negotiations, officials in the U.S. “are ready when you are.”

“You know what would be great, if we could make a peace deal with them,” Trump added of Iran. “Would you be happy with that? Wouldn’t it be nice? Because I think they want to. I think they’re tired.”

In a speech that often drew raucous cheers from Israeli lawmakers, that particular sentiment elicited a muted response. Netanyahu, meanwhile, saluted his country’s “amazing victories over Hamas and the entire Iranian terror axis.”

‘Little dot’ vs. ‘Hamas’ false propaganda’

Both leaders spoke about mounting international pressure on Israel to end the war — but to different ends.

Netanyahu chastised the global community for having “bought into Hamas’ false propaganda” and said that doing so saw “more and more governments succumb to antisemitic mobs in their own countries” while pushing for Israel to “surrender to Hamas demands.”

Doing so, he said, would have meant that “in no time, the Hamas killers would be back on the border fence, ready to repeat the horrors of October 7th again and again.”

Trump, by contrast, suggested that Israel might have been unable to continue fighting with Hamas for much longer amid outside opposition from so many corners of a world he noted was very big — even while praising Israel’s military and political strength.

The sheer number of people in Gaza killed during the war, the widespread destruction there, and an ongoing starvation and humanitarian crisis, sparked allegations of genocide denied by Israel.

“This piece of land is very small,” Trump said. “You have this little dot, and think of what you’ve done. It’s incredible.”

Mutual admiration. But no joint participation in Egypt summit

Trump hailed Netanyahu repeatedly, and even took the extraordinary step of suggesting that the prime minister be pardoned in an ongoing corruption inquiry.

“Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?” Trump asked.

That was a reference to three corruption cases for which Netanyahu has been indicted. One involves accusations the prime minster and his wife accepted luxury goods — including cigars and champagne — in exchange for political favors.

After Trump was snubbed by the Nobel Peace Prize committee last week, Netanyahu promised to nominate Trump as the first non-Israeli to receive the Israel Prize, the country’s highest honor.

Still, such praise didn’t lead to both men heading to Egypt after finishing their speeches.

Trump left Israel to attend what the White House has billed as a “ peace summit ” featuring 20-plus world leaders in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Netanyahu was invited, but declined Monday. His office said it was too close to the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.

Weissert writes for the Associated Press.

Joint statement comes more than a month after the E3 countries triggered a mechanism reinstating UN sanctions against Iran.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany have said they wish to restart stalled nuclear talks with Iran and the United States, more than a month after the three European countries triggered a mechanism reinstating the United Nations sanctions on Iran for the first time in a decade.

The E3 countries’ joint statement on Friday came nearly two weeks after UN sanctions were reimposed on Iran, under a “snapback” process that the three nations had initiated on August 28 and that became effective one month later.

In response, Iran recalled its envoys to the three European countries for consultations.

Iran has said that, following those revived sanctions, it would not immediately resume nuclear talks.

The sanctions set up a global ban on cooperation with Iran on nuclear, military, banking and shipping industries.

The sanctions are aimed at imposing new economic pain to pressure Iran, but it remains to be seen if all countries will enforce them. On September 27, the day before the sanctions came into effect, Iran’s national currency, the rial, fell to new all-time lows.

In their joint statement, the UK, France and Germany said: “We are determined to reinitiate negotiations with Iran and the United States towards a comprehensive, durable and verifiable agreement that ensures Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.”

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, said on Monday that “we have no plans for negotiations at this stage”.

He added that Iran was examining the “consequences and implications” of the restart of sanctions.

“Of course, diplomacy – in the sense of maintaining contacts and consultations – will continue,” Baghaei said. “Whenever we feel that diplomacy can be effective, we will certainly make decisions based on the country’s interests and priorities.”

Nuclear fears

Western countries, spearheaded by the US and joined by Israel, accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons – a charge Tehran has long denied.

During a 12-day June conflict, the US bombed nuclear sites in Iran, joining an Israeli air campaign that targeted Iran’s top generals and nuclear scientists, as well as civilians in residential areas. Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles and drones against Israel and sites linked to the US. According to Amnesty International, Israeli attacks on Iran killed at least 1,100 people.

The E3 said in Friday’s statement that “it was right that the snapback mechanism had been triggered”.

“Iran’s nuclear programme poses a serious threat to global peace and security,” the bloc of nations added.

In 2015, the US, along with the E3, Russia and China, concluded an agreement with Iran providing for the regulation of Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

US President Donald Trump decided during his first term in 2018 to withdraw the US from the deal and to reinstate US sanctions.

In retaliation, Iran pulled back from some of its commitments, particularly on uranium enrichment.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is the only country without a nuclear weapons programme to enrich uranium to 60 percent. That is close to the threshold of 90 percent required for a bomb, and well above the far lower level needed for civilian nuclear use.

Oct. 10 (UPI) — The United States has sanctioned more than 50 people, entities and vessels accused of facilitating the sale of Iranian oil and liquefied petroleum gas, as the Trump administration continues to tighten its financial vise on Tehran.

The sanctions target nearly two dozen shipping vessels, a China-based crude oil terminal and a Chinese so-called teapot refinery that the Treasury accuses of moving hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of LPG for Iran.

The Treasury said that Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group, an independent teapot refinery in Shandong Province, has purchased millions of barrels of Iranian oil since 2023, receiving the shipments worth hundreds of millions of dollars via Iran’s shadow fleet of vessels.

The China-based Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal was also blacklisted for accepting more than a dozen of those shadow fleet ships.

“The Treasury Department is degrading Iran’s cash flow by dismantling key elements of Iran’s energy export machine,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Under President [Donald] Trump, this administration is disrupting the regime’s ability to fund terrorist groups that threaten the United States.”

The sanctions are the fourth round of the second Trump administration to target China-based refiners accused of purchasing Iranian oil and follow the U.S. blacklisting of facilitators of Iran’s oil trade on Aug. 22 and a network of dozens of individuals, entities and vessels that make up Tehran’s shipping network on July 30.

The sanctions continue the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign that failed during his first term to bring Iran to the negotiating table on a new deal.

The punitive policy was initially launched in 2018, when Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark multinational Obama-era accord aimed at preventing Iran from securing a nuclear weapon as part of efforts to cobble together one of his own.

The maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and other measures was employed in an effort to compel Iran to resume negotiations on a new deal.

Instead, Iran continued to advance its nuclear program.

The previous Biden administration attempted to restart negotiations with Iran on reinstating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but those prospects were dashed when Iran-backed Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The second iteration of the maximum pressure campaign was launched on Feb. 4 with Trump’s signing of National Security Presidential Memorandum 2, which seeks to “impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to end its nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program and stop its support for terrorist groups.”

The policy’s second iteration is a broader focus on China’s aid to Iran, secondary sanctions and a targeting of Tehran’s shadow fleet

The sanctions announced Thursday coincided with the Treasury also sanctioning a network of individuals and companies assisting Iran with evading U.S. sanctions.

It also blacklisted 44 individuals and firms accused of being involved in Iran’s nuclear program and weapons procurement network earlier this month.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran is seeking to work on a broader Middle East peace deal after lending its support to his plan to bring a ceasefire to the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.

“Iran wants to work on peace now. They’ve informed us, and they’ve acknowledged that they are totally in favor of this deal. They think it’s a great thing, so we appreciate that, and we’ll work with Iran,” Trump said as he prepares to head to the Middle East this weekend.

“As you know, we have major sanctions on Iran and lots of other things. We would like to see them be able to rebuild their country too, but they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Trump was alluding to strikes he authorized on Iran’s nuclear program in June, which he and his senior officials have maintained completely destroyed any Iranian nuclear capability.

The US president said during a Fox News interview Wednesday evening that Tehran was “about one month, maybe two months, away from having a nuclear weapon” when he launched the attacks during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel.

Trump earlier announced that Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a 20-point plan he laid out Sept. 29 to bring a ceasefire to Gaza, release all Israeli captives being held there in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, and a gradual withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the entire Gaza Strip.

A second phase of the plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza without Hamas’ participation, the formation of a security force comprising Palestinians and troops from Arab and Islamic countries, and the disarmament of Hamas. It also stipulates Arab and Islamic funding for the new administration and the reconstruction of the Strip, with limited participation from the Palestinian Authority.

Arab and Muslim counties have largely welcomed the plan, but some officials have also said that many details in it need discussion and negotiations to be fully implemented.

Iranian FM warns that Europe has ‘eliminated justification for talks’ with UN nuclear watchdog after triggering snapback sanctions.

Iran’s foreign minister has declared that cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog is “no longer relevant” after Western countries reinstated international sanctions on the country.

“The Cairo agreement is no longer relevant for our cooperation with the IAEA,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday, referring to a deal signed last month with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

That agreement had laid out a framework for renewed inspections and monitoring after Tehran suspended cooperation following Israeli and United States attacks on its nuclear facilities in June.

However, the deal lost significance after Britain, France and Germany – all signatories to the 2015 nuclear accord – triggered the return of UN sanctions, accusing Iran of breaching its commitments, claims which Tehran has rejected.

“The three European countries thought they had leverage in their hands, threatening to implement a snapback,” Araghchi told foreign diplomats in Tehran. “Now they have used this lever and seen the results. The three European countries have definitely diminished their role and almost eliminated the justification for negotiations with them.”

He added that the European trio “will have a much smaller role than in the past” in any future talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Double standards

Tehran has accused the IAEA of double standards, saying the agency failed to condemn Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites despite its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Western states, led by the US and supported by Israel, have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons – allegations Tehran strongly denies. Iran insists its programme is purely civilian and that it retains the right to enrich uranium under the NPT.

Some Iranian lawmakers have suggested withdrawing from the NPT altogether, though President Masoud Pezeshkian has maintained that Iran will remain committed to its treaty obligations.

Araghchi said Tehran’s “decision regarding cooperation with the agency will be announced”, without elaborating, but noted that “there is still room for diplomacy”.

Talks between Iran and the US that began in April to revive a broader nuclear agreement collapsed after Israeli attacks in June targeted Iranian nuclear, military and residential sites.

Tehran has since accused Washington of sabotaging diplomacy and demanded guarantees and recognition of its rights before any potential resumption of negotiations.

Iran has repeatedly denied seeking a nuclear weapon, while Israel is widely believed to possess an undeclared nuclear arsenal of dozens of atomic bombs.

The US on Wednesday announced new sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities tied to Iran’s nuclear and weapons programs, in support of the recent “snapback” sanctions by the UN on Tehran, Anadolu reports.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that 44 individuals and entities have been designated, including five people and one entity allegedly linked to Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), which he described as the successor to Iran’s pre-2004 nuclear weapons program.

The US also imposed additional export restrictions on 26 entities and three procurement-linked addresses.

“These actions highlight the importance of the September 27 re-imposition of sanctions and other restrictions on Iran pursuant to multiple UN Security Council resolutions,” Rubio said. “We will not hesitate to hold accountable anyone who supports Tehran’s proliferation activities.”

The measures come after France, Germany and the UK invoked a “snapback” mechanism under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, restoring sanctions that had been suspended since the 2015 nuclear deal.

READ: Iran slams reimposition of UN sanctions, accuses Europeans of abusing nuclear deal

An Iranian Foreign Ministry official says the Trump administration plans to deport about 400 Iranians.

An Iranian official says the United States plans to deport hundreds of Iranian citizens in the coming weeks, with the first 120 deportees expected to arrive in Iran within days, as US President Donald Trump continues his immigration crackdown.

Hossein Noushabadi, director general for parliamentary and consular affairs at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the Tasnim news agency on Tuesday that US immigration authorities plan to deport about 400 Iranians.

Noushabadi said the first planeload of Iranian nationals would arrive “within the next one or two days” after a stop in Qatar. Qatari authorities did not immediately comment on his remarks.

Noushabadi said most of the Iranian nationals targeted had entered the US without documentation, primarily through Mexico, while some faced other immigration issues.

The deportations, which have not yet been publicly acknowledged by the Trump administration, come as tensions remain high between the two countries after the US joined its ally Israel in bombing Iran during a 12-day June conflict.

They also come as part of a wide-reaching crackdown on migrants and asylum seekers in the US, with Trump pledging to carry out the largest deportation operation in the country’s history.

Noushabadi said on Tuesday that US authorities had unilaterally made the decision to deport the Iranian nationals without consultations with Iran.

But the New York Times, citing anonymous Iranian officials, reported that the deportations were “the culmination of months of discussions between the two countries”.

The US news outlet said some of the Iranians had volunteered to leave after being in detention centres for months, while others had not.

A US-chartered flight took off from Louisiana on Monday and was scheduled to arrive in Qatar late on Tuesday so the deportees could be transferred to a Tehran-bound flight, a US official said.

The White House and the US Department of State did not immediately respond to requests from the Reuters news agency for comment.

Since returning to office in January, Trump has set out to deport a record number of people living in the US.

However, his administration has struggled to increase deportation levels, even as it has created new avenues to send migrants to countries other than their own.

In February, the US deported 119 people from different countries, including Iran, to Panama as part of an agreement between the two nations.

TEHRAN, Iran — The United States will deport hundreds of Iranians back to Iran in the coming weeks, with the first 120 deportees being prepared for a flight in the next day or two, Iran said Tuesday.

The deportation of Iranians, not yet publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government, comes as tensions remain high between the two countries following the American bombings of Iranian nuclear sites in June.

Meanwhile, the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran this past week over its nuclear program, putting new pressure on the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy.

The deportations also represent a collision of a top priority of President Trump — targeting illegal immigration — against a decadeslong practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

As many as 400 Iranians would be returning to Iran as part of the deal with the U.S., Iranian state television said, citing Hossein Noushabadi, director-general for parliamentary affairs at Iran’s Foreign Ministry. He said the majority of those people had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, while some faced other immigration issues.

Noushabadi said the first planeload of Iranians would arrive in a day or two, after stopping over in Qatar on the way. Authorities in Qatar have not confirmed that.

The U.S. State Department referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond. The New York Times first reported the deportations.

In the lead up to and after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, a large number of Iranians fled to the U.S. In the decades since, the U.S. had been sensitive in allowing those fleeing from Iran over religious, sexual or political persecution to seek residency.

In the 2024 fiscal year, for instance, the U.S. deported only 20 Iranians, according to statistics from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Iran has criticized Washington for hosting dissidents and others in the past. U.S. federal prosecutors have accused Iran of hiring hitmen to target dissidents as well in America.

It’s unclear exactly what has changed now in American policy. However, since returning to the White House, Trump has cracked down on those living in the U.S. illegally.

Noushabadi said that American authorities unilaterally made the decision without consultations with Iran.

But The New York Times said Tuesday, citing anonymous Iranian officials, that the deportations were “the culmination of months of discussions between the two countries.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, as well as President Masoud Pezeshkian, both attended the U.N. General Assembly in New York last week as a last-ditch effort to stop the reimposed sanctions. However, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei boxed in their efforts by describing diplomacy with the U.S. as a “sheer dead end.”

Speaking to state TV in footage aired Tuesday, Araghchi acknowledged that direct communication from Iran went to the U.S. government during the U.N. visit — something he had been careful not to highlight during five rounds of nuclear negotiations with the Americans earlier this year.

“With Americans, both directly and indirectly, messages were exchanged, and eventually, we are relieved that we did whatever it was necessary,” Araghchi said. “It was clear and evident to us after the interpretation the Supreme Leader made that negotiations with Americans is an obvious dead-end.”

Vahdat writes for the Associated Press.

Iran is facing new pressure due to its nuclear programme.

European powers have re-imposed sanctions that were lifted as part of a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement.

They target Iran’s banking, oil, and other crucial sectors. There is also an embargo on arms imports.

Western allies say Iran has not been cooperating with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, and that its nuclear programme poses a threat to international security.

Tehran has always maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian use, and says it is ready to weather the storm.

So, is there still room for diplomacy?

Presenter: Nick Clark

Guests:

Ellie Geranmayeh – senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, and a specialist in Europe-Iran relations

Mark Fitzpatrick – former US diplomat, and associate fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies

Marzie Khalilian – Iranian political analyst and researcher at Carleton University, focusing on US-Middle East relations.

The Middle East has been one of the most sensitive regions, where one event of insecurity and chaos shakes the entire Middle Eastern dynamics and existing global order. The recent atrocious genocide of Palestinians since October 7, 2023, by Israelis has proved to be a major spark for escalated crises in the region. The recent Iran–Israel conflict ignited a fire from the underlying spark. Strategic attacks between both adversaries took place, which unveiled the volatile and porous security shield of the region concealing deepened internal weaknesses and discords. Israel attacked Iran by relying on its policy of “pre-emptive strike,” a sheer and illegal violation of international law. Iran retaliated while unable to hide the weaknesses and loopholes in its air force and defense system.

The Arab World’s normalization of relations with Israel, the anti-Western ideological perspective of Iran, the sponsorship of terrorism and proxy wars, the expanded nuclear arsenals of both competitors, and the Palestinian genocide by Israel have caused recent escalatory tensions between Iran and Israel. The war between both nuclear powers has escalated regional tensions and generated severe impacts: a vacuum for global powers to exercise influence in the Middle East, strict hatred against the USA and the West by Iran, regional instability and imbalance of power, an arms race, and alliance formation in the region.

The relationship between Iran and Israel can be divided into four phases, spotlighting a roller coaster of instability. The first phase starts from 1947 till 1953, in which bitter relations followed; Iran stood against the British and United Nations (UN) decision of inclusion of Israelis into Palestine (Iran was an anti-Israel state out of 13 states).Then comes the second phase, from 1953 till 1979, in which cordial ties were enjoyed during Iranian President Reza Shah Pahlavi’s regime (he was pro-Western). During the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the pro-Western regime of Reza Shah Pahlavi was ousted by Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and post-Revolution Iran maintained bitter relations with Israel during its third phase till 1991.

However, further adversarial relations peaked after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 till contemporary times. The series of attacks between both states in the contemporary history of the world marked a possibility of a bigger conventional warfare that can take place between both states via the “Domino Effect.” The unprecedented support for surgical strikes, proxy wars, and attacks on ships, planes, military bases, and nuclear scientists was a common practice. Recent larger-scale tensions expanded when Israelis attacked on April 1, followed by Iranian retaliation on April 13, 2024, then full-scale attacks at the onset of June 2025, while utilizing their nuclear arsenals at a huge pace. Israel’s important port was attacked by Iran, along with the residence of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who justified the attack on Gaza concealed under the right of self-defense. 

The ground for attack was prepared for a few reasons. Diverse factors escalated war at the conflict ladder, raising serious peace and security concerns and generating severe impacts. One of the major causes of the tensions is the religious factor. Iran being a Shi’ite majority state while Israel’s Zionism’s superiority claimed the conflict’s religious perspective. Iran stood with Palestinians, being a Muslim brother, and warned Israel of an unprecedented war if Israel did not back out, and it proved to be true. The recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians divided the Middle Eastern sections that claim to be united under the umbrella of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

This war took the shape of the Arab World vs. the Non-Arab World. The Arab World normalization of relations with Israel played a major role in heightening the conflict ladder. Israel wants to become a regional hegemon by balancing ties with the Arab States and maintaining superiority on all fronts. The religious factor has caused the formation of blocs and alliances by some states andneutrality by others. The Arab World and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) met failure in proposing a genuine solution for wars in the region. Iran-Israel tensions escalated from small tactics of attacks from both sides. The nuclear warfare conceals religious superiority and intolerance towards other segments of the region.

Ideological differences between parties paved the way for a warfare scenario. Israel being the right hand of the USA in the Middle East is not acceptable to Iran (a staunch anti-Western state) in the region.Post-revolutionary Iran (post-1979) is against western policies and their implementations in the Middle East by any Muslim state. Even Pakistan’s Chief Marshall General Asif Muneer’s visit to the USA on June 14, on the 250th anniversary of the USA military, during regional tensions made Iran uncomfortable. The cover page of the Iranian newspaper “The Tehran Times” raised questions about why Pakistan went to the USA amid tensions in the Muslim world. Iran considers the backing power of Israel, the USA, a major reason for regional instability.

Iran challenges the USA’s interference in the region by confronting Israel. The USA provided military and economic aid to Israel in wars in the Middle East. In the case of Palestine, the Conflictual Theory of Karl Marx implies in this situation that the actions of one state generate the consequences, and the other (weaker) states bear the brunt of those consequences. Iran was against Saudi-led westernization structured on USA models. The USA and Israel mutually adopted a policy to neutralize Iran for being a regional hegemon. A step towards it was initiated by Israel.

Iran has an over-reliance on three elements.

·       Drones (struck down by the USA, UK, Israel, and Jordan). Jordan is justifying it by saying that I’ll not allow violation of my airspace.

· Missiles (Ballistic and Hypersonic). Around 80 ballistic missiles were used, not stopped by the USA and others, and reached Israel within 12 minutes. Hypersonic missiles comprise more speed.

·       Proxies in region.

The sponsorship of terrorism and proxies by both Iran and Israel in the Middle East is also one of the major reasons for advanced nuclear tensions between both parties, as they cost the peace of the region in the long run. One reason Netanyahu is quoting again and again is that Iran is an existential nuclear threat for Israel, and he is emphasizing diminishing its proxies. Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Mehdi Malaysia in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, and Assad’s regime in Syria are all backed by Iran. These groups are alleged to have carried out terrorist activities in the Middle East. Israel claims to stand against them, but the reality check is different.

Israeli atrocities abstained Hamas from bearing tortures and eventually stood on October 7, 2023, by attacking Southern Israel on Yom Kippur Day. The terrorist acts and proxy wars destabilized the region in worst-case scenarios. The militant groups fought for their regional autonomy and basic independence in the states, which were undermined by stakeholders. The militant groups are majorly supported by Iran in their rights for freedom and regional autonomy rather than external influences and perpetual dependency on the global North and West. Houthis in Yemen are at a distance from Iran, and for attacks, Iran has to go through the Red Sea, as their access is strenuous. They stood in solidarity with Palestinians by blocking oil and trade ships of the USA, the UK, and Israel. These states then retaliated and caused much devastation to them by breaking the back of Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) submitted a report in May 2025 that Iran has grossly violated enrichment capacities and expanded its nuclear arsenals. The Israeli nuclear arsenal, backed by the USA and Western alliances, raised the regional imbalance of power and security dilemma but was accepted by the international community.Contrarily, the Iranian Nuclear Program, developed on its own, seems a threat in the region. The nuclear programs, uranium enrichment, expansion of weaponry, development of missiles (cruise and ballistic), and latest conventional warfare techniques have raised serious concerns undermining regional peace. The economic and nuclear sanctions on Iran crippled its societal structure, yet its nuclear standoff is unmatchable. The expansion of nuclear arsenals and weaponry has led to an arms race, with the latest technological advancements having raised serious concerns. Iran has weapons that cannot be detected by the missile defense systems of Israel.

Palestinian genocide by Israel is one of the major reasons behind Iran-Israel tensions. Massive ethnic cleansing of innocent Palestinians has raised serious human rights concerns. Iran has condemned the Arab World for staying silent and not assisting Palestinian liberation via united efforts. They have claimed to retaliate with full force if Israel does not back off from Palestinian genocide. Massive brutal assassinations of Palestinians have taken place. More than 50,000 children have been killed, with millions of deaths of civilians and injuries. In the case of Iran, more than 16 renowned nuclear scientists, with few other state officials, have been killed by Israeli attacks in the past ten days. If this crisis prevails, it will be difficult to mitigate larger regional warfare. Iran sided with Palestine rather than the tame Arab world. They demand immediate genuine solutions;Global Civil Society is already predicting the way towards World War III. Iran launched missile attacks on Israel, sending a clear message that it will not back down if Israel does not stop regional ethnic cleansing in the name of self-defense.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed in 2015, from which the USA administration quit under President Trump’s administration in 2017. Trump expanded the process of negotiations on multiple fronts (nuclear enrichment, proxy wars) with Iran after becoming president again in 2024. Oman played a major role in it. The sixth round of talks was ongoing when strikes between both parties took place. Israel was against any kind of negotiations with Iran. Israel has been convincing the Global North and West to attack Iran on the basis of several reasons (speeches), as its fear of unprecedented threats from Iran isn’t hidden. After its October 2023 attacks on Gaza, upon questioning by the journalist about what the common threat of Israel is, in an interview with CNN, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Iran, Iran, Iran.” Pivotal stance on attacking Hamas was based on ceasing Iranian support and expansion in the region via Hamas. JCPOA negotiations failed in genuine terms and halted, as they were not acceptable to Israel, and do not seem possible in the future.

Netanyahu is facing opposition on multiple fronts, internally due to a vote of no-confidence against himself in Knesset. In order to foil that move, he successfully created a situation with Iran. Due to genocide and war crimes in Gaza, European allies step back in large numbers. The USA and European populace went to protests for Muslim victims for the first time in contemporary history. A wicked hard image of Netanyahu was projected globally; these steps seemed to make it better to erode it by diverting attention towards Iran.

Israel implemented an official policy of “preemptive strikes” against all proxies. This concept matured in the Bush era, mainly in 2003-04. Practically, it was utilized by both adversaries in strikes against each other, yet Israel got its benefits in the recent escalation. The attacks were unprecedented. No official statement was given by Israel, and certain media reports say that missile strikes were carried out and F-35 jet fighters were used. Special forces of Israel have conducted operations in Iran, including attacks in Tehran, at nuclear facilities, and at military bases, targeting journals, scientists, the army chief, military commanders, and around 100 civilians, claiming several precious and innocent lives.

Nuclear facilities of states are mostly underground, and Iran’s are based in Isfahan, Natanz, Fordow, and Arak. The depth of underground facilities is generally 60-80 meters deep underground. Simple missiles are not enough to destroy these, but Bunker Buster bombs are required, which are owned by the USA but lacked by Israel. According to The Security Brief Show (BBC News), nuclear sites in Isfahan were attacked by sea-based USA warships called TAM, or Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, that travels subsonically and can go very deep and is really hard to be detected by radar. The dismantling of the nuclear installations is still doubtful.

However, apart from bases, Iran claimed to have breached Israel’s sophisticated missile defense systems, which are among the most advanced in the world, by hitting a military intelligence center and an operations planning center for the Mossad spy agency. Iranian missiles managed to pierce through the Israeli Air Defense System by exhausting interceptor missiles and cruise and hypersonic missiles, according to an Al-Jazeera report.

Despite all these, the internal weaknesses of the Iranian intelligence system and defense capabilities to strike down attacks by Israel were all unveiled and made Israel more confident. The striking back capabilities of Iran encompassed the Air Force, which was very weak due to protracted sanctions via the international community. It has outdated jets, like the MiG-29. F-14 jet fighters are USA-based. The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has deep penetration in Iran’s intelligence and military system. The attacks were carried out on the residences of the army chief, the Pasdaran-e-Islam chief, scientists, journals, and many others. The operation by commandos proved to be another bigger penetration of Israel (comprising intelligence and military). Reports by the BBC are claiming that Iran will go to Beijing for advanced fighter jets.

This war has major impacts on China, due to its growing imports and reliance on Middle Eastern hydrocarbons, especially being a major importer of Iran’s hydrocarbons. Absence of safety, hiked prices of energy resources, and escalated insecurity will devastate China in the economic sector via deteriorating trade and investments carried out by China under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and BRICS+. Unlikely, USA entanglement in regional wars has diverted her attention from the Taiwan Strait (emerging Silicon and technological warfare) and the South China Sea, a blessing in disguise for China to reclaim irredentism. The USA has more than 40,000 troops in the Persian Gulf.

The more the attention of the USA is on the Middle East, the less the attention is on China and Russia.

Trump projected himself (self-proclaimed) as a peacemaker—to avoid a confrontation policy with Iran. Iran was not in favor of war either (with the USA and Israel directly) and carried out a policy of utilizing the nuclear enrichment as a bargaining chip with the USA for the removal of sanctions, knowing its defense capacities and loopholes. Trump is projecting its peace-making image via regime change in Syria with more democratic and peaceful political agendas concealing regional influence, genocide in Gaza despite ceasefire truces, launching air and naval strikes on Houthis in Yemen in “Operation Rough Rider” in the name of promoting peace, and giving minute relief to so-called militant groups in the region. According to a recent report on the Red Sea crisis, Israel is urging Trump to resume strikes on Houthis in Yemen.

In the case of Pakistan, the state’s second strike capability is strong, as it remained victorious in recent military strikes with India in post-Pahalgam aggression. India’s ideological isolationist nationalism and political pressure on Prime Minister Modi are shaping the current aggressive behavior of the world’s largest democracy. Its involvement in baking the proxies, extremists, and terrorist activities in neighborhoods and within Pakistan are expected to surge in Afghanistan, ex-FATA,and the Balochistan regions.

A ceasefire brokered by the USA on June 24, 2025, curbed both parties from engaging in further military and nuclear strikes, underlying diplomatic objectives. Iran denounces the claim of the USA. It has not ended fully; episodes still exist on political and diplomatic grounds, as Israel is not accepting negotiations with Iran at any cost. The Israeli Defense Minister said that we will not attack Iran, yet citizens should be prepared for counterattacks. They have to ensure their protection via the Underground Safety System of Israel. In an interview addressing the conflict, the Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf highlighted that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, played a pivotal role in orchestrating decisive strikes of Iran, which urged the USA and Israel to seek a ceasefire after the 12-day war.

Certain causes have generated massive effects, which need immediate and comprehensive solutions in order to de-escalate the deep Iran-Israeli tensions and other wars in the Middle East. Religious differences have to be tolerated and respected until they cross the threshold for massive outrages. Ideological differences have led the region to deepened grievances that need much time for their resolution. Iran is propagating an anti-westernization agenda, while Israel is working on Ideological Expansionist Nationalism (IEN) and Political Separatist Nationalism (PSN). All these have done nothing good in the regional affairs. Global powers take this opportunity to meddle in the regional affairs by being opportunists and want to take full advantage of the absence of an adversary. China filled the vacuum created by the USA in ameliorating the Iran-Saudi rivalry. 

To encounter terrorist activities and proxy wars, comprehensive strategic frameworks and effective governance are the ultimate solutions, developed by proper democratic means practiced within the state. Arms control should be ensured by both states by acting with rationality and maturity. The rational actor model best explains the cost and benefit analysis taken before going to war. In today’s world of nuclear warfare, there will be no winners, but devastations will take place at huge levels. The two-state solution will resolve the Palestinian ethnic cleansing. The Muslim world has to unite for brutally suppressed Palestinians and all other factions of the region. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) remained slow, as it did not conduct any remarkable session in the past few months. Iran spoke in the OIC session of 2023 for Palestinians. In the case of Iran-Israeli tensions, nothing profound seemed to happen, except the USA called for a ceasefire and mediation.

In the end, the escalated tensions between Iran and Israel generated serious repercussions for regional peace, stability, and security. If this aggression were not controlled (it seemed to be controlled as a ceasefire was brokered by the USA), it would lead towards another great World War III as small bilateral wars advance the ‘domino effect’ in generating large-scale warfare. This issue generated after the Israeli genocide of Palestine, the change of regime in Syria after a long civil war, and Israeli attacks on Lebanon to eliminate Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The religious, ideological, terrorist, nuclear, and Palestinian factors paved the way for Iran-Israel tensions that are impacting the region at a larger scale. The formation of blocs, the failure of the Muslim world to stand in solidarity with oppressed states in the Middle East, massive terrorist attacks, the nuclear arms race, and the Palestinian blockade all demand immediate solutions. A comprehensive strategic plan for regional stability by the Muslim world is in dire need of time. As the Middle East is the most volatile region with respect to stability and security in the region. Conclusively, instead of sporadic efforts, a concerted plan is required by international stakeholders for the maintenance of the dignity and sanctity of international law, peace, and humanity.