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Iran JCPOA revival conditions

Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran seeks stronger guarantees from the US to have a sustainable deal aimed at reviving the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow. He said Tehran is carefully reviewing Washington’s response to an EU draft text on reviving the JCPOA. The top Iranian diplomat also urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to drop its politically-motivated probes in order for Iran and other parties to reach a sustainable agreement. For his part, Lavrov said the two countries are working to create reliable mechanisms that will allow them to expand cooperation regardless of any diktats from the West. He said Tehran and Moscow have already identified clear guidelines in that respect.

Reaction to Gorbachev death

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his condolences over the death of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. In a message to Gorbachev's relatives, Putin described the late leader as someone who had an enormous influence over world history and had tried to offer solutions and reforms. The president said Gorbachev led the country during a period of large-scale foreign policy, economic and social challenges. In a separate statement, the Kremlin hailed him as an extraordinary global statesman who helped end the Cold War. But the statement said Gorbachev had been wrong about the prospect of a "rapprochement with the bloodthirsty West". Gorbachev, who died aged 91 in Moscow on Tuesday, is revered by many in the West. But Russians have divided opinions about his domestic and foreign policies. 

Plight of Palestinian prisoners

As many as one thousand Palestinians held in Israeli jails say they will begin a hunger strike in protest against their detention without trial and the regime’s violence against prisoners. Palestinian inmates will begin their strike from Thursday. President Mahmoud Abbas has warned that any harm to inmates would explode the situation further. Abbas underlined that the Israeli treatment of Palestinian prisoners violate international humanitarian laws and the Geneva Convention. On Tuesday, an Israeli court also refused to release Khalil Awawdeh despite being in critical condition after nearly six months of hunger striking. Hundreds of Palestinians are held in different jails under Israel’s so-called administrative detention policy. It allows the regime to imprison Palestinians without trial or charge indefinitely. They are subject to abysmal treatment such as regular humiliating strip searches and beatings.

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