Iran

Abdullah Hafeez Khan, a spokesperson for the flag carrier, told local media that the first flight departed from Lahore to Mashhad in Iran on Wednesday night, and returned to Pakistani port city on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency. The official said the resumption of the flight aimed at facilitating pilgrims, tourists and strengthening people-to-people contacts between the two countries, adding that the passengers would have the facility of good quality and cost-effective air travel.

Ali Bagheri Kani, also Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for political affairs, on Thursday made the remark in an address to Iranian media ahead of a New Year break in the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the remaining parties to the deal, namely China, Russia, Britain, France plus Germany (P4+1), according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Since the beginning of the eighth round of the talks on Monday, the main focus of the negotiations was on the removal of the sanctions on Iran, Bagheri Kani said.

In an address to the media on the sidelines of a Tuesday ceremony, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that "we have a unified and joint text, on which the Iranian negotiating team is focused," Iranian Foreign Ministry reported on its website. The Iranian top diplomat added that the other parties to the deal are also focused on the issues "we placed in the text," which are those the sides have differences on, Xinhua news agency reported.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss met with visiting Foreign Ministers of the on Monday and they issued a joint statement after the meeting, voicing "grave concern" about Iran's regional activities and what they called "nuclear escalation", Xinhua news agency reported. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh called the claims made through the statement "baseless" and "repetitive," according to a statement published on the ministry's website.

"Hassan Irloo contracted the coronavirus at his place of mission" in Sanaa, Xinhua news agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying in an official statement. "Unfortunately, he returned to the country in an unfavorable condition, and despite using all the treatment steps to improve his condition, he was martyred this morning," he added.

"Since the beginning of the negotiations on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal in Vienna, Iran has held no direct talks with the US," Saeed Khatibzadeh, the ministry spokesman, was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying. On Friday, Sullivan had told reporters in Washington that the US has "communicated both through the Europeans and directly to Iran".

At a press conference, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the cameras, to be installed, are commercially available, and that they can not "be tampered with" or "be violated by anybody". Cameras at the nuclear facility were damaged as a consequence of an act of sabotage in June, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Iran is determined to make every effort to restore the JCPOA. To that end, our proposals put forward in Vienna are in full conformity with the JCPOA and Resolution 2231," Takht-Ravanchi said in a statement, the Xinhua news agency reported. Iran has demonstrated its political will, seriousness and constructive engagement with its interlocutors to arrive at a good agreement as soon as possible, he said.

Ali Bagheri Kani, who is in Vienna for the continuation of talks on the restoration of the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), wrote in a tweet that if there is a will to "remedy the culprit's wrongdoing," the path will be quickly smoothed for reaching a good deal, Xinhua news agency reported. Bagheri Kani added that Iran swiftly presented its proposals and made efforts constructively and flexibly to reduce the differences, stressing that diplomacy is a "two-way street."

The Islamic Republic of Iran will not back down from its demands for the lifting of sanctions in the process of restoration of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Bagheri Kani said, according to the report. He stressed that the proposals made by Iran to the P4 + 1 group, comprising the UK, China, France, Russia plus Germany, in the recent Vienna negotiations are "documented and logical," and therefore can be a basis for negotiations, Xinhua news agency reported.