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All tagged Jeremy Hunt
◢ President Hassan Rouhani hinted on Wednesday that Iran is open to a possible tanker swap with Britain and indirect talks with the United States over its nuclear program and sanctions. "We don't want tensions with some European countries," Rouhani said in comments to a cabinet meeting posted on the official website of his government.
◢ Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has traveled to France to meet with President Emmanuel Macron. Oman’s foreign minister will head for Tehran on Saturday as tensions soar in the oil chokepoint it shares with Iran. The prime minister of Iraq, whose country has security ties with the U.S. and political and religious links to Iran, has been in Tehran since Monday.
◢ European governments will assemble a naval mission to provide safe passage for ships through the Persian Gulf, after Iran seized a British oil tanker in the region last week, an act that U.K. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt described as “state piracy.” Hunt announced a “European-led maritime protection mission to support safe passage of crew and cargo” in a statement to Britain’s Parliament in London on Monday.
◢ European foreign ministers held crisis talks Monday on saving the beleaguered Iran nuclear deal as Britain warned the "small window" for success was closing and Tehran issued fresh threats of restarting its atomic program. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt—who held phone talks with his US and Iranian counterparts at the weekend—insisted "the deal isn't dead yet.”
◢ British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt sought to ease tensions with Iran on Saturday, saying a tanker held by Gibraltar would be released if Tehran guaranteed it was not heading to Syria. He said he had a "constructive call" with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, who he said assured him that Tehran "is not seeking to escalate" tensions between the countries.
◢ Iran accused the United States Thursday of an "unacceptable" escalation of tensions and said Tehran was showing "maximum restraint" despite Washington's withdrawal from a nuclear deal with world powers. Tensions were already high after President Donald Trump walked away a year ago from the accord, which eased international sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.
◢ As European Union governments scramble to save the Iran nuclear accord from U.S. efforts to scuttle it, the mood in diplomatic circles has blackened. Then suddenly, U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo lands in Brussels with little warning. After a cool initial reception to the unscheduled drop-in, Pompeo began meetings with European counterparts to address Iran’s “threatening actions and statements.”
◢ France and Britain on Monday requested a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council after charging that Iran test-fired a medium-range missile at the weekend, diplomats said. The meeting is expected to be held Tuesday. The United States said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Washington has withdrawn.
◢ British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was to visit Iran for the first time on Monday for talks about the nuclear deal and freeing UK nationals held in Iranian jails. Iran has been abiding by the terms of its nuclear deal with global powers, the latest report from the UN atomic watchdog indicated last week, days after fresh US sanctions hit the country.
