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Khamenei says Iran-US talks going well but may lead nowhere

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday he was satisfied with talks with arch-foe the United States but warned they could ultimately prove fruitless.Tehran and Washington are due to meet again in Muscat on Saturday, a week after top officials held the highest-level talks since the landmark 2015 nuclear accord collapsed.US President Donald Trump, who pulled out of the deal during his first term, revived his “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign after returning to office in January.In March, he sent a letter to Khamenei urging talks and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.Saturday’s talks were “well carried out in the first steps”, Khamenei said, quoted by state television. “Of course, we are very pessimistic about the other side, but we are optimistic about our own capabilities.”But he added that “the negotiations may or may not yield results”.Despite having no diplomatic ties since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, both sides described the talks as “constructive”.Iran insists discussions remain “indirect” and mediated by Oman.- Trump threats -On Monday, Trump again threatened to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if no deal was reached, calling Iranian authorities “radicals” who should not possess nuclear weapons.Tehran denies seeking an atomic bomb, saying its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, especially energy production.Khamenei said Iran’s “red lines are clear”, without elaborating.Earlier Tuesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the country’s military capabilities were off limits in the discussions.”National security and defence and military power are among the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which cannot be discussed or negotiated under any circumstances,” Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said.On Monday, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who led the talks in Oman with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, said Iran should return to the 3.67 percent enrichment level stipulated in the 2015 accord.He said the process with Iran “is going to be much about verification on the enrichment programme and then ultimately verification on weaponisation that includes missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there and it includes the trigger for a bomb”.- ‘Red lines’ -In its latest quarterly report in February, the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilograms (605 pounds) of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, close to the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi is expected in Iran on Wednesday.Late Sunday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the country’s regional influence and its missile capabilities — long criticised by Western governments — were among its “red lines” in the talks.Tehran supports the “axis of resistance” — a network of militant groups opposed to Israel, including Yemen’s Huthi rebels, the Hezbollah armed group in Lebanon, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Shiite militia groups in Iraq.Iran has long been wary of talks with the United States, citing past mistrust.The 2015 accord — known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA — offered Iran relief from international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.Iran complied with the agreement for a year after Trump’s withdrawal before scaling back its compliance.In his speech, Khamenei said Iran should not pin its hopes on progress in the negotiations.”At the time (of the JCPOA), we made everything conditional on the progress of the negotiations,” he said.”This mistake… should not be repeated here.”

Sudan war drains life from once-thriving island in capital’s heart

An island in the middle of Sudan’s capital that used to draw crowds to its Nile River farms now stands nearly deserted after two years of war, its homes ransacked and once-lush fields left fallow. Nestled at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, Tuti Island has been devastated by two years of war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with residents subjected to violence and looting.When fighting broke out on April 15, 2023, RSF fighters swiftly captured the crescent-shaped island, forcing residents to flee in panic.”They fled in feluccas (sailing boats), leaving everything behind,” said Youssef al-Naim, 67, one of the handful of residents who never left.The war has devastated the nation, killed tens of thousands and uprooted 13 million, according to the United Nations.At the beginning of the war, the RSF had gained control of wide swathes of the capital, outflanking the army in the north and south, before the tides turned in the army’s favour earlier this year.The island, accessible only by a single suspension bridge, was cut off and besieged by the RSF since the war began.Residents were deprived of food, electricity and safe drinking water, even before fighters descended on the island.- Lifeless -“We used to carry water from a well for washing and drink from the Nile,” Naim said.”Sometimes we couldn’t reach the river and drank the well water, which made people sick.”Those able to pay  for passage, fled in sailing boats and then the back of lorries, headed east.”Every day, 10 or more people would leave,” Naim recalled as he sat on a tattered fabric chair.Tuti island was once known as “Khartoum’s garden” for its verdant fields of beans, arugula and fruit trees that supplied much of the capital’s produce. Now, the eight-square-kilometre (three-square-mile) floating patch, overlooking Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri (Khartoum North) which form the greater Sudanese capital, appears nearly lifeless.”For nearly two years, I haven’t seen a single tomato,” Naim said.An AFP team that visited the island after the army retook it in March saw signs of the sudden exodus.Doors hung ajar, children’s toys were scattered across the ground and shredded fabric fluttered through the ruins.- Scars of war -On March 22, Sudan’s army regained control of the Tuti bridge as part of its broader offensive to retake Khartoum. Within a week, Burhan declared the capital “free”.But the scars of two years of war run deep, with RSF fighters accused of subjecting civilians to indiscriminate violence.”They beat children, the elderly and even pregnant women,” Abdel Hai Hamza, another resident, told AFP.Witnesses also described systematic looting, with fighters raiding homes in search of gold jewellery, cash and weapons.”They had to leave houses with something,” added Hamza, 33.The conflict has decimated Sudan’s infrastructure, crumbled an already weak economy and pushed millions to the brink of mass starvation.In Khartoum alone, at least 3.5 million have been displaced while 100,000 are suffering from famine-levels of hunger, according to the UN.Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes, but the paramilitary in particular has become notorious for allegedly committing systematic sexual violence, ethnic cleansing and massive looting.Now, with the bridge to Tuti reopened and RSF fighters pushed out, some residents are making their way back, determined to rebuild their lives.”Residents are trying to restore electricity,” after cables were cut by the RSF, said Sherif al-Tayeb, a former resident of Tuti who now lives abroad and still has close friends among the island’s residents.Despite the devastation, small groups of civilians clean the streets with shovels and buckets, while dump trucks haul away the remnants of their shattered lives.

Iraq sandstorm closes airports, puts 3,700 people in hospital

A sandstorm swept through Iraq, filling the air with choking dust that closed airports and put more than 3,700 people in hospital with breathing difficulties, the health ministry said Tuesday.Visibility fell to less than one kilometre (barely half a mile) in central and southern cities as the storm cloaked the region in an eerie orange haze, AFP photographers reported. Basra and Najaf airports both closed for the duration of the storm, which began to dissipate on Tuesday morning.Health ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr said Basra was the worst-hit province, accounting for more than 1,000 of the 3,747 hospital admissions attributed to the sandstorm.Many of those who dared to venture out in Basra wore face masks to protect themselves from the choking dust, an AFP photographer reported.Sandstorms are a perennial feature of life in central and southern Iraq but the environment ministry has warned the country can expect to suffer a rising number of “dust days” in coming decades due to the impact of global warming.A heavy sandstorm in 2022 saw one person die and more than 5,000 treated in hospital for breathing difficulties.

Captured underwater drone sent messages to China: Philippine military

Five underwater drones found by Philippine fishermen were capable of gathering information that could aid in “underwater warfare”, the country’s military said Tuesday, noting at least one had relayed a signal to China.The revelation follows months of confrontations between the Philippines and China in the disputed South China Sea and comes as Manila prepares for …

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