Qom cleric says Iran will never abandon uranium enrichment

Tehran’s interim Friday prayer Imam said remarks by US President Donald Trump during his visit to Persian Gulf countries reflect Washington’s concern over Iran’s growing influence, calling the Islamic Republic the main obstacle to American and Israeli actions in the region.

“This gentleman who spoke in Arab countries knows what has happened in Iran in terms of building power,” said Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard. “This great power today stands as the main barrier to US aggression and crimes.”

He said Iran is seen by the US and Israel as a threat because it unites the Islamic world.

“While the US president claims to bring security to the region, Gaza is under total siege,” he said.

Trump, speaking in Saudi Arabia, accused Iran of fueling chaos across the Middle East and called it the region’s most destructive force.

Delegations from Iran and the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal — Germany, France, and the United Kingdom — have arrived at Iran’s consulate in Istanbul ahead of a political meeting, Iranian media reported Friday.

According to the reports, the meeting will be held later today and will focus on continuing diplomatic consultations, including discussions on indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States.

A German diplomatic source told Iran International on Thursday that the meeting between representatives of the E3 group and Iran is scheduled to discuss Tehran’s nuclear program. “These are not negotiations,” the source said, adding that Germany will be represented by Dominik Mutter, Political Director at the Federal Foreign Office.

Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, “We remain ready to talk to Europe, even if their own policies have led to some isolation in these negotiations.”

US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States will resolve the Iran issue “one way or the other,” warning Tehran that a peaceful outcome is still possible, but not guaranteed.

“We have an Iran situation, which we're going to take care of. One way or the other, we're taking care of,” Trump said during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. “It'll be taken care of 100 percent. It'll be done nicely or not nicely. And the not nicely is not a good thing for them.”

Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris were arrested in May 2022 during a tourist trip to Iran. Both were charged with espionage, which they deny. They remain in detention in Iran’s Evin prison.

“They have been held hostage… detained in appalling conditions that amount to torture,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told France 2 television. He said Iran had denied France’s requests for consular access.

The case was formally filed on Friday morning in The Hague, France’s foreign ministry confirmed.

Paris argues that Iran has violated the Vienna Convention, which guarantees consular rights for foreign nationals. “France is acting to defend its citizens and uphold international law,” ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said on Thursday.

Kohler, a teacher, and Paris, her partner, are the last known French citizens held in Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron has described them as “state hostages.”

France and other European Union members accuse Iran of practicing “hostage diplomacy” — detaining foreigners to pressure Western governments.

Iran denies the accusation. Its officials say the arrests followed legal procedures and reject claims of mistreatment.

The legal move comes as Iranian officials are due to meet with European diplomats in Turkey for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have reported on the use of forced confessions in Iran and poor conditions in its prisons. Iran has broadcast videos of Kohler and Paris appearing to confess. France has called the footage coerced and unreliable.

US President Donald Trump, who once tore up the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, may now be in a position to deliver a stronger one, Washington Post columnist Fareed Zakaria wrote in an opinion piece Thursday.

“Trump reminded us that sometimes his willingness to take risks and think outside the box can shake up tired old ways,” Zakaria wrote, pointing to the president’s recent moves in Saudi Arabia, including lifting sanctions on Syria and signaling openness to a new deal with Iran.

He argued that the time is now favorable for a deal with Tehran because of two key shifts: Iran’s growing weakness and Saudi Arabia’s increasing strength. “Iran is in worse shape than it has been in a generation,” he wrote, citing economic decline, military setbacks, and the collapse of Bashar Assad's government in Syria.

Zakaria said Trump faces resistance from within his own camp — between realists, including chief negotiator Steve Witkoff, and hawks like Senator Marco Rubio. But he noted that Trump has the political capital to act.

"The more prosaic reality is that Iran is run by a bunch of brutish mullahs and corrupt military officials, who have spent their energies amassing fortunes in this world, not preparing for the next one," he wrote.

“There is a deal to be made with such men,” Zakaria wrote of Iran’s leadership, “not to become friends, but to serve a common interest of defusing the dangers of nuclear arms races and bringing stability to a Middle East that has been scarred by generations of war and terror.”