Iran

Nasser Kanaani dismissed the claim as "baseless and outdated," accusing Britain of being "complicit" in the war in Yemen. Britain has been continuously selling advanced weapons to the Saudi-led military coalition against "the defenseless people of Yemen," Xinhua news agency quoted Kanaani as saying. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthis seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.

"Agreement is possible only based on mutual understanding and interests," Amir-Abdollahian tweeted after a phone conversation with EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on Tuesday night. "We remain ready to negotiate a strong and durable agreement," he said, insisting that the United States "must decide if it wants a deal or insists on sticking to its unilateral demands."

According to the statement, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a phone conversation with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna, reports Xinhua news agency. Though describing the talks on June 29-30 in Doha as positive, Amir-Abdollahian said that "we should wait and see how the American side would seek to use the opportunity of diplomacy".

Ali Bagheri Kani did not specify whether the next round of talks will take place in the format of Iran and the P4+1 (Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany) or will be held indirectly between Iran and the US, Xinhua news agency reported. Iran and the US held indirect talks on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha, with the mediation of EU coordinator Enrique Mora, to address their differences over the revival of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"America's realism and obtaining stable guarantees for Iran's full economic benefit from the agreement can make the outcome of the negotiations fruitful," he tweeted on Friday. Amir-Abdollahian added that Ali Bagheri Kani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, in full coordination with him, "seriously continues to negotiate logically, reasonably and actively for the lifting of sanctions".

Iran is serious about reaching "a good, robust and lasting agreement," which is at hand "if the US acts realistically," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in a phone conversation on Wednesday evening. "We are determined to continue the negotiations until a realistic deal is reached," he added. Amir-Abdollahian also thanked Qatar for hosting the negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Another meeting between Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani and Enrique Mora, the EU Chief Coordinator for the Iran nuclear talks, was held on Wednesday evening, Nasser Kanani added on Wednesday. "The talks in Doha have, from the beginning, been scheduled for two days. The two-day Doha talks are being held in a professional and serious climate," he said.

Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), made the remarks in a meeting with Pakistan's Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Nadeem Raza in the Iranian capital Tehran, Xinhua news agency reported, citing Iran's official news agency IRNA. Both Iran and Pakistan are suffering from the irreparable adverse impacts of "destructive" US interferences and presence in Afghanistan, the Iranian commander cited.

Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy chief of the Iranian Judiciary and a former envoy to the IAEA, was quoted by the Iran's Press TV as saying that Iran has cooperated with the agency "in good faith and with transparency" and has provided "adequate explanations" to the IAEA's questions, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Indian Embassy in Qatar had already issued a statement, saying that the "Ambassador had a meeting in the Foreign Office in which concerns were raised with regard to some offensive tweets by individuals in India denigrating the religious personality. Ambassador conveyed that the tweets do not, in any manner, reflect the views of the Government of India. These are the views of fringe elements".