Iran

The United States has agreed to join talks to revive the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, after former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal in 2018.

"The United States would accept an invitation from the European Union High Representative to attend a meeting of the P5+1 and Iran to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran's nuclear program," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

A cat has caused a major fire at a power plant in southern Iran, according to media reports. According to the report, the animal had entered the power plant on Charg Island on Saturday night and then continued to the area of the safety box. For reasons unknown so far, this led to a short circuit, a cable fire and ultimately to the major fire, it said.

Fire department emergency personnel were able to extinguish the fire, but the power plant had to be shut down for several hours. Accordingly, the more than 10,000 inhabitants of the island had no electricity on Saturday.

President Joe Biden announced an end to the United States support for Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen on Tuesday.

"This war has to end. We are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen including relevant arms sales," so Biden. "At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks and UAV strikes and other threats from Iranian supplied forces in multiple countries. We are going to continue to help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people."

Sydney's Lowy Institute assessed the Covid-19 response of 98 countries on six different criteria – including cases, deaths and testing – and ranked New Zealand's response to the virus the best. The other countries that made the top 10 are Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Cyprus, Rwanda, Iceland, Australia, Latvia and Sri Lanka. The United States, Mexico, Colombia and Iran and Brazil were in the bottom five, with Brazil being ranked at the bottom.

Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili announced during a press conference on Tuesday that Iran has requested the international police organisation to arrest Trump and 47 other American officials identified as playing a role in the assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani last year.

Soleimani, Iran's top general who led the foreign operations arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was assassinated on January 3, 2020, in a US drone strike in Baghdad ordered by Trump. In a ceremony in Tehran to mark Soleimani's assassination anniversary, judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi said Trump was a main target of prosecution and should not be immune because of his political status.

On January 1, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the Iranian government had told the watchdog it planned to resume enrichment up to 20% at Fordo site, buried inside a mountain. The announcement would put Tehran's program a technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

The Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabeie said, "A few minutes ago, the process of producing 20% enriched uranium has started in Fordo enrichment complex."

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran's top nuclear scientist, has been assassinated near Tehran on Friday, according Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA. Fakhrizadeh was injured after armed assassins fired at his car and died later in the hospital.

"Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today," Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said in a tweet. "This cowardice -- with serious indications of Israeli role -- shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators Iran calls on int'l community -- and especially EU -- to end their shameful double standards & condemn this act of state terror."

Ali Akbar Velayati, international affairs adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated that "the Iranian nation will avenge the blood of this great martyr from the terrorist elements and their supporters."

On Saturday, Iran's president Hassan Rouhani accused Israel of the assassination, saying that "once again, the evil hands of Global Arrogance and the Zionist (Israeli) mercenaries were stained with the blood of an Iranian son" and adding "Iran will surely respond to the martyrdom of our scientist at the proper time." Israel has not responded to the accusation yet.

A leading Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near the capital Tehran on Friday, Iran's Defense Ministry announced on state television. Iran's state media reports that the scientist died during an attack in the Absard area of the province of Damavand, about 60 kilometres east of Tehran.

Western officials and experts believe Fakhrizadeh played a pivotal role in suspected Iranian work in the past to develop the means to assemble a nuclear warhead behind the facade of a declared civilian uranium enrichment programme.

In 2018, Netanyahu gave a presentation in which he unveiled what he described as material stolen by Israel from an Iranian nuclear archive and showed a photograph of Fakhrizadeh.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian who has been imprisoned in Iran for two years, has been freed.

She says she has nothing but love for the people of Iran.

Iranian authorities released Dr. Moore-Gilbert on Wednesday night in an alledged prisoner swap and is on her way back to Australia.

The United Nation's atomic watchdog has confirmed that Iran has been building an underground centrifuge assembly plant. Satellite images have not yet shown any signs of construction. Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reported that the facility has not been completed yet and further information were confidential.

The country's old facility exploded in what was called "a sabotage attack" during summer.

During Thursday's final presidential debate, moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC News, Democratic nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump were asked questions regarding the current state of the US economy, the effect of Covid-19 on New York, foreign interference in US elections and health care. The candidates’ microphones were muted at times while the other was speaking.

Biden insisted that "people deserve to have affordable health care" which would be provided by Bidencare. Trump has said again he would replace Obamacare but didn't give any further information.-

Trump stated he knew all about foreign interference in US elections but alleged it was a ploy to undermine his candidacy. Biden promised that "they will pay a price if I’m elected" as they were interfering with American sovereignty, referring to China, Russia and Iran.

The United States unilaterally proclaimed on Saturday that United Nations sanctions against Iran are back in force. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "Today, the United States welcomes the return of virtually all previously terminated UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Pompeo also stated "If UN member states fail to fulfill their obligations to implement these sanctions, the United States is prepared to use our domestic authorities to impose consequences for those failures and ensure that Iran does not reap the benefits of UN-prohibited activity."

In a joint letter to the U.N. Security Council, France, Germany, and United Kingdom said "Any decision or action taken with a view to re-installing [the sanctions] would be incapable of legal effect."

And the Russian foreign ministry stated "The illegitimate initiatives and actions of the United States by definition cannot have international legal consequences for other countries."

Hackers from China, Russia and Iran are targeting the 2020 presidential elections, Microsoft found. In a blog post, Microsoft stated that the three hacker groups Strontium (Russia), Zirconium (China) and Phosphorus (Iran) have launched attacks aimed at both the Democratic and Republican party. The groups have attacked "more than 200 organizations including political campaigns, advocacy groups, parties and political consultants", "high-profile individuals associated with the election" including associates of Biden's campaign and "personal accounts of people associated" with the Trump campaign.

"The majority of these attacks were detected and stopped by security tools built into our products. We have directly notified those who were targeted or compromised so they can take action to protect themselves," so Microsoft

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said Tehran continues to violate the limitations set in the 2015 nuclear deal with the US, Germany, France, the UK, China and Russia. The limit was set at 300kg of enriched uranium, while the country now has 2,105kg.

The watchdog noted, however, that Iran's stockpile remains far below the many tons of enriched uranium Iran had amassed before the 2015 deal and that its stockpile of heavy water had decreased and is now back within the JCPOA limits.

An investigation by BBC's Persian service found that Iran's death toll is three times as high as reported by the country's health ministry. While Iran had officially reported 14,405 Covid-19 related deaths and 278,827 infections, Iran's government records show almost 42,000 deaths and 451,024 confirmed cases. BBC obtained the data from an anonymous source, who wanted to "shed light on truth", included daily hospital admissions and patient information.

The US has introduced new sanctions on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The sanctions fall under the Caesar Act, which went into effect in June, 2020 and targets industries and entities that deal with the Assad administration, including those in Iran and Russia. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the purpose of the sanctions is to pressure Assad into ending the war, which has entered its ninth year.

Syria is currently facing an economic crisis, with many struggling to find food and other basic goods. Syrian officials have blamed the worsening conditions on American and EU sanctions.

Kelly Craft, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, stated the sanctions are not meant to harm civilians, nor do they target humanitarian efforts.

According to a report from IRNA news agency, an explosion occurred at a power plant in Iran's central Isfahan province on Sunday, causing a power interruption that lasted two hours.

The blast, which was said not to have caused any injuries, was caused by wear and tear on a transformer at the power plant, the managing director of the Isfahan power company told the official IRNA news agency.

President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech Saturday that around 25 million Iranians may have been infected with Covid-19. The number is an estimate from a health ministry research report and corresponds to more than 30% of the country’s population.

Iran's authorities reimposed restrictions for a week in Tehran. Religious and cultural functions are banned, boarding schools, cafes, indoor pools, amusement parks and zoos will be closed.

After experiencing several explosions at key military and nuclear facilities in Iran the country allegedly put parts of its air defense system on "high alert". According to CNN, the Unites States has "several" intelligence indications from satellites, planes and ships that routinely operate in international airspace and waters.

Following current assessments, the alert status in Iran is not part of a current training exercise but a fear of an unknown threat as the reasons for the recent explosions are still unknown.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has instituted mandatory wearing of face masks in public as the country experiences a rise in Covid-19 cases. The new measure took effect on Sunday. Employees are only allowed to work "if they wear masks and obey different health protocols" and people need to "observe protective and health protocols and wear masks" in order to get service from the state or any other organisation.