Iran to increase 40 parliamentary seats after decades of delay

Asked by a reporter whether Moscow was influencing Tehran's response to the letter from Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "Iran is a sovereign country and independently formulates its position on key foreign policy issues."

"It is clear that Iran is seeking negotiations based on mutual respect, constructive negotiations."

Trump on Friday said that he had sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, offering negotiations while warning of military consequences if talks over its nuclear program failed.

A day after Trump publicly revealed his letter, Khamenei made a speech in which he made no mention of the letter but declared that the Islamic Republic would not negotiate with "bullying" powers. Iranian media and observers interpreted this as a rejection of Trump's overture.

Last week, Moscow offered to mediate in talks between its ally Iran and the United States on the various disagreements between the old foes, including Tehran's nuclear program and military activities in the region.

"We, of course, for our part, will continue to do everything that depends on us, everything that is possible, in order to bring this process of settling the Iranian nuclear dossier into a peaceful direction," Peskov added.

On Monday Iran’s foreign ministry reiterated its denials, claiming that Tehran had not received a letter from Trump.

Acknowledging the fragility of the situation as pressure on Tehran ramps up, Peskov said, "It is clear that very tense contacts are ahead."

"The Swedish Ambassador in Tehran, Mathias Otterstedt, was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry by the Director of the Western Europe’s Third Department Shahram Ghazizadeh in response to the inappropriate and interventionist positions of some Swedish officials against the Islamic Republic of Iran," a statement by the foreign ministry released on Monday read.

During the meeting with the Swedish ambassador, Iran communicated its "formal protest to the Swedish envoy and criticized the inappropriate statements, baseless accusations, and interventionist remarks made by the Swedish minister of education against the Islamic Republic of Iran."

​An investigative report by Swedish daily newspaper Expressen last month revealed that an individual who had worked for Iran's intelligence service for two years was subsequently employed as a doctoral student at Lund University. The student had not mentioned his background in Iran's intelligence service in his CV.

The report quoted the student as confirming he "worked for an institute that later turned out to be part of the intelligence service."

Reacting to the repot the Swedish Minister of Education Johan Pehrson said: "Iran is a rogue state that many Swedes have fled from. They have institutionalized misogyny, anti-Semitism and sponsor terrorism. The Swedish Security Service classifies Iran as one of the greatest security threats to Sweden. Iran not only engages in espionage and influence work, but is also interested in acquiring technology and innovations that are developed in Swedish companies and universities."

Iran's foreign ministry also said that during the meeting, Ghazizadeh also criticized Sweden for summoning Iran’s ambassador in Stockholm over the case of detained Swedish Iranian Ahmadreza Djalili on death row in Tehran.

It also stated that Ghazizadeh raised concerns over the case of Niloufar Zareh, an Iranian citizen who was killed in a school shooting in Sweden last month, and requested details on the judicial process.

The projected shortfall has fueled concerns over worsening blackouts and mounting pressure on the government to address the crisis.

Ali Nikbakht, chairman of Iran’s power plant association, estimated a 25,000-megawatt electricity deficit next year, which begins on March 21—roughly one-third of the country’s total consumption.

“We need to expand capacity by 6,000 megawatts annually, but next year we won’t even reach a third of that,” he said, adding that this year’s 20,000-megawatt shortage will persist. Several power plants, he noted, may be unable to operate during the summer due to financial constraints.

His remarks stand in contrast to Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi, who insisted last month that Iran remains a major player in the global power industry.

“The Islamic Republic has secured a leading position in electricity production and equipment exports,” he said, adding that government planning would prevent major disruptions next summer.

However, power shortages have already led to unplanned, widespread shutdowns in recent months in the likes of schools and government buildings in massive swathes of the country.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said last month, “Shutting down offices isn’t a solution, but a necessity. We had to choose between keeping offices open or preventing people from freezing.”

In parliament, lawmakers have voiced frustration over the outages. Jalil Mir-Mohammadi, an MP from Taft, said, “Continuous blackouts are damaging household appliances, while cuts to irrigation wells are devastating farmers.”

Rahmatollah Norouzi, another lawmaker, urged the energy minister to address the crisis in parliament.

The issue has drawn international attention. On February 19, US President Donald Trump reshared a post by journalist Ashley Rindsberg on Truth Social, citing a New York Times report on Iran’s blackouts. “This is how regimes fall,” the post read.

With summer approaching, Iran faces mounting challenges in managing an energy crisis that threatens homes, businesses, and political stability.

"The US Department of Justice is prosecuting these three men in federal court, and I must look them in the eye and testify," Alinejad said in a video message on Sunday.

The two-week trial will begin on Monday, March 10, according to Alinejad.

Rafat Amirov, 43, from Iran, Polad Omarov, 38, a citizen of both the Czech Republic and Slovenia, and Khalid Mehdiyev, 24, from Yonkers, New York, were indicted in a New York federal court on charges of money laundering and murder-for-hire in 2023.

The Justice Department charged the three men in an alleged plot that originated in Iran to kill Alinejad.

The Islamic Republic "is not only killing innocent people in Iran but is also targeting them in the heart of America and Europe," Alinejad said in her message.

"Here, in a federal court in Manhattan, the truth will be laid bare before the world."

Mehdiyev was arrested in New York in 2022 for possessing a rifle near the residence of Alinejad. Amirov was taken into custody in the Southern District of New York in January 2023. Omarov was extradited to the US by the Czech Republic in February 2024 after his arrest in January 2023.

The three were part of an Eastern European criminal organization called the "Thieves in Law".

Iran’s partnership with criminal gangs is partly born out of necessity. According to Western officials, the government’s own operatives face increasing scrutiny and surveillance from intelligence services, limiting their ability to conduct missions abroad. By turning to these criminal groups, the Islamic Republic circumvents the obstacles while tapping into networks that are already embedded in the West.

In 2021, US officials uncovered a plot involving two Hells Angels members hired to kill an Iranian defector and his wife in Maryland.

In an interview published by the Israeli newspaper on Sunday, Maria Zakharova referred to the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran and said, "A similar approach might be useful now in order to stabilize the situation."

"We are prepared for the closest cooperation with Tehran and with the other involved parties for the sake of reducing tension and finding sustainable solutions that will enable an effective and long-term accord," she was quoted as saying.

Iran had largely restricted its nuclear program in exchange for some sanctions relief as per the agreement it signed in July 2015 with world powers, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, the deal reached under US President Barack Obama was criticized by his successor Trump, who pulled out of the agreement, as too lenient on Tehran.

Trump warned on Friday that the situation with Iran had reached a critical stage, adding that he preferred to reach a deal over Tehran's nuclear program.

“We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office. “We are at final moments with Iran. Something’s going to happen very soon."

There’ll be some interesting days ahead, that’s all I can tell you. You know, we’re down to final strokes with Iran,” he added.

He also said he has sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader. However, Ali Khamenei on Saturday ruled out the possibility of negotiation with the United States, in his first public speech after Trump's remarks.