Foreign relations of Iran

A U.S. Navy veteran whose family said his only crime was falling in love left Iran on June 4 after nearly two years of detention, winning his freedom as part of a deal that spared an American-Iranian physician from any additional time behind bars.

Iran's foreign minister said on June 2 that a plane had taken off from arch-foe the United States carrying scientist Sirous Asgari after his apparent release from a U.S. prison.

"Good news, a plane carrying Dr. Sirous Asgari has taken off from America. Congratulations to his wife and family," Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote in a post on his Instagram account.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said any negotiations with the United States would be "futile" as he delivered his first major speech to the conservative-dominated chamber on May 31.     

Today, the ambassadors of NATO member states are discussing this in Brussels.
"We regret the announcement by the US government that it intends to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty, although we share concerns about Russia's implementation of the provisions of that agreement," reads the letter signed by the foreign ministers of ten NATO member states.

One British and two American personnel were killed and about a dozen people were wounded when 18 small rockets hit Iraq's Taji military camp north of Baghdad on March 11, U.S. officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Turkish state lender Halkbank will be arraigned in a U.S. court next week to face a federal indictment for alleged evading Iran sanctions.

The bank was represented by the law firm of King & Spalding at a hearing on Feb. 25 and attorneys said it agreed to appear at the proceedings.

Halkbank was charged in October with attempts to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Feb. 24 discussed the coronavirus outbreak in the country's eastern neighbour as well as the recent earthquake with his Iranian counterpart.

Austria's foreign minister said on Feb. 19 that he will travel to Tehran this weekend amid efforts by European countries to keep alive Iran's nuclear agreement with world powers.

Iranian envoy to Iraq said Tehran is willing to settle its differences and challenges with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as soon as possible, Iraqi media reported on Feb. 4.

A U.S. appeals court in Manhattan granted Turkish state lender Halkbank a temporary pause in its Iran sanctions evasion case.

The temporary stay in the case was granted on Feb. 3 to allow for the bank's requests to be heard by a three-judge panel.
The court said it would take up Halkbank's requests on an expedited basis.