US seeks forfeiture of $47m in Iranian oil proceeds linked to IRGC

Kamal Kharrazi, who heads Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations and previously served as foreign minister, said: “Recent US behavior is psychological warfare—alternating between threats and offers of negotiation,” he said, referring to what he described as conflicting remarks from American officials and media coverage of a message sent by US President Donald Trump to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, earlier this month.

According to a report by Axios, the message from the US was described as “tough,” with a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear deal and a warning of consequences if Iran expanded its nuclear program.

But Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, offered a more conciliatory version, saying the letter proposed peaceful dialogue and trust-building.

“They've reached back out,” Witkoff said in an interview last week, referring to indirect Iranian responses via multiple channels. “Trump believes this has a real possibility of being solved diplomatically.”

Kharrazi said such gestures appear designed to pressure Iran into accepting unfavorable terms. “This is not real negotiation—it is an attempt to impose one side’s will through coercion,” he said, adding that Iran’s experience with past agreements has made it wary of US commitments.

His remarks come after Iran’s foreign minister said direct talks with the US are currently impossible without major policy shifts. Iranian officials have acknowledged ongoing indirect communication through intermediaries, including Oman and European nations.

Last year, Kharrazi said Iran had the technical capability to build nuclear weapons but was restrained by a religious decree banning them. He warned that an existential threat could prompt a change in military doctrine.

“Unlike her predecessors, who tried to reflect EU positions with at least some regard for international legal principles, Ms. Kallas speaks recklessly,” Baghaei said. “Even if her words stem from inexperience, they still harm Europe’s image in the eyes of any neutral observer.”

Kallas, speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem alongside Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Monday, said Iran posed a grave danger to both the region and the world.

“On Iran, we agree the immense threat Iran poses to the region and global stability. Iran is a threat also supporting Russia's war in Ukraine,” she said. “Iran must never be allowed to acquire or build a nuclear weapon. And EU supports all diplomatic efforts to that effect.”

Sa’ar called for European support against Iran and its regional allies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. “We are now fighting the war of the free world,” he said. “The war is against Western civilization—against its values and its ways of life.”

Earlier this month, Kallas called for a renewed international nuclear agreement with Iran, similar to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), just days after former US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of military action to dismantle the deal.

Speaking at a United Nations Security Council session on EU-UN cooperation, Kallas said: “The constant expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme fully contradicts Iran’s own commitments as endorsed by the Security Council.”

“In the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the (Caspian Sea), we have established security and strength, and we will prevent any enemy adventurism,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) naval commander Alireza Tangsiri said at a rally in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

Tangsiri said that IRGC naval units and their regional allies had turned regional waterways into a “theater for defeating the enemies", the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim website quoted him as saying, in a possible reference to Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen who have imposed a maritime blockade in the Red Sea.

The exercises featured over 3,000 vessels, according to the IRGC, which said the parade was timed ahead of International Quds Day, an annual event promoted by Iran to express support for Palestinians.

Organizers said boats operated by the IRGC and civilian volunteers paraded in 13 locations spanning the Persian Gulf, the Makran coast and the Caspian Sea.

At one of the southern sites, pro-government demonstrators burned representations of the Israeli flag.

The exercise comes as the US military has deployed long range bombers at a strategic Indian Ocean airbase, a spokesperson told Iran International, as Washington ramps up rhetoric against Iran and continues a bombing campaign on Houthi fighters in Yemen amid the Iran-backed group's blockade of commercial shipping in the Red Sea region.

US President Donald Trump has demanded Tehran come to a deal over its nuclear program or face a military intervention and warned any attack by the Houthis would be treated as emanating from Iran, after the group, listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the US, launched multiple attacks on US warships.

Top Iranian leaders have rejected the ultimatum and deny seeking nuclear arms.

President Trump reportedly issued a two-month deadline to Iran, via the United Arab Emirates, to agree to a new nuclear arrangement, vowing military consequences should Tehran fail to comply.

Iran and the IRGC have been connected to multiple tanker hijackings and attacks in areas including the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.

Just last year, amid the Houthi blockade, Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey in retaliation for the confiscation in 2023 of the same vessel and its oil by the US, according to Iranian state media.

University officials confirmed that Alireza Doroudi, a PhD student in mechanical engineering, was arrested off-campus by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The reason for Doroudi’s detention has not been made public.

Doroudi, an Iranian citizen, was in the US on a student visa and specialized in metallurgical engineering, according to public records.

In a statement, the University of Alabama College Democrats described the arrest as a “cold, vicious dagger through the heart of UA’s international community,” and said ICE had yet to provide any justification. “Our fears have come to pass,” the group added.

Doroudi’s detention also comes as the Trump administration considers new travel restrictions that could fully suspend visa issuance for citizens of countries including Iran. If implemented, the policy would block legal entry for Iranian nationals and further tighten immigration rules.

In February, several Iranians deported by US authorities were sent to detention centers in Panama, where they reported harsh conditions and limited access to food, medicine, and legal aid. Advocacy groups have warned that deported Iranians, including religious minorities, face risk of persecution.

The arrest follows detentions at other US universities. This week, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University was taken into ICE custody after being accused by the Department of Homeland Security of supporting Hamas.

Earlier this month, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and organizer of pro-Palestinian campus protests, was arrested by immigration officers in New York. Khalil is a US permanent resident.

"B-2 Spirit bombers have arrived at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia," a US Strategic Command spokesperson said, referring to the strategic British territory.

The military grouping and its units "routinely conduct global operations ... to deter, detect and, if necessary, defeat strategic attacks against the United States and its allies," the spokesperson added, saying it does not comment on specific actions.

US President Donald Trump has demanded Tehran come to a deal over its nuclear program or face a military intervention and warned any attack by the Houthis would be treated as emanating from Iran.

Top Iranian leaders have rejected the ultimatum and deny seeking nuclear arms. US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said on Tuesday the US intelligence community assesses Iran is not building nuclear weapons.

A joint UK-US military base at Diego Garcia has previously been used to launch US strikes on the Middle East including Iraq and Afghanistan, with the deployment suggesting the potential for large-scale air operations in the region. 

The US military deployed the B-2 stealth bombers along with C-17 cargo planes and 10 aerial refueling tankers in the last two days, defense industry outlet The War Zone reported on Wednesday citing satellite imagery.

Flight tracking data and satellite imagery analyzed by open-source intelligence analysts suggest the arrival or transit of at least five B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, capable of carrying the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) – a 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb and the 20,000-pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) or "Mother of All Bombs."

C-17 cargo planes are capable of transporting personnel, equipment and munitions while the refueling tankers enable sustained long-range air operations.

In October, the United States used B-2 stealth bombers for strikes on Houthi underground weapons facilities in Yemen for the first time.

President Trump reportedly issued a two-month deadline to Iran, via the United Arab Emirates, to agree to a new nuclear arrangement, vowing military consequences should Tehran fail to comply.

The report of the deployment came hours after Iran unveiled what it termed a new missile city, run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iranian state media reported the display of various domestically produced missiles, including long-range ballistic types, with Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri vowing enhanced missile capabilities in the future.