Seizing on Donald Trump’s conciliatory tone after Tehran released an American Navy veteran, Iran’s foreign minister challenged the US president on Friday to return to the nuclear deal that Washington abandoned two years ago.
Iran freed Michael White on Thursday as part of a deal in which the United States allowed Iranian-American physician Majid Taheri to visit Iran.
Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday of White’s release: “Thank you to Iran, it shows a deal is possible!”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, addressing Mr Trump, said on Twitter, “We achieved humanitarian swap despite your subordinates’ efforts”.
“We had a deal when you entered office. ... Your advisors -most fired by now - made a dumb bet. Up to you to decide when you want to fix it.”
Mr Trump pulled out in 2018 of the nuclear deal with major powers, under which Tehran curbed its nuclear work in return for the lifting of many international sanctions on Iran. Since quitting the agreement, Washington has reimposed sanctions to throttle Iran’s oil exports as part of a policy of “maximum pressure”.
Thursday’s prisoner swap was a rare instance of US-Iranian cooperation. Also on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi confirmed that Mr Zarif met Bill Richardson, a former US envoy to the United Nations, “months ago” over prisoner releases.
“We have always responded positively to humanitarian efforts that would lead to the release of Iranian hostages in the United States and elsewhere,” Mr Mousavi told the official IRNA news agency.
But a top Iranian security official denied that negotiations with Washington had led to the prisoner swap.
“The exchange of prisoners is not the result of negotiations & no talks will happen in future,” Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the country’s top national security body, said on Twitter. He did not elaborate on how the swap had been arranged.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
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