The United States on Tuesday called on Iran to overturn the death sentence of an Iranian Kurdish aid worker and civil society activist, saying Pakhshan Azizi was sentenced to death following a "sham trial".
In a post on his X account, Acting US special envoy for Iran Abram Paley said, "The regime must stop targeting Iran’s Kurdish minorities and using capital punishment to silence peaceful opposition."
Iran has been reduced to its weakest point in decades, President Joe Biden said in a valedictory foreign policy speech on Monday, citing Tehran's dire economy, knocked-out air defenses and loss of Syria as an ally.
"Iran's air defenses are in shambles. Their main proxy, Hezbollah, is badly wounded, and as we tested Iran's willingness to revive the nuclear deal, we kept the pressure with sanctions. Now Iran's economy is in desperate straits," Biden said in a White House speech to applause.
"All told, Iran is weaker than it's been in decades," he added, also citing Washington's and other allies' assistance of Israel in shooting down drones and ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic launched in two direct attacks last year.
Biden has been repeatedly criticized by President-elect Trump, who is due to return to the White House next week, as being too soft on Iran.
In 2023, the Biden administration unfroze $6 billion in Iranian funds to bank accounts in Qatar in exchange for the release of five US-Iranian prisoners held by Tehran. That move was lambasted by Republican critics as indulging Iranian hostage diplomacy.
Amid bipartisan pressure following the Oct. 7 attack by Iran-backed Hamas against Israel, the Biden administration told lawmakers it would effectively refreeze those funds for the foreseeable future.
"You want more evidence we seriously weakened Iran and Russia? Let's take a look at Syria. President Assad was both countries' closest ally in the Middle East. Neither could keep him in power. Quite frankly, neither really tried very hard," Biden added.
"Now I cannot claim credit for every factor that led to Iran and Russia growing weaker in the past four years," Biden added. "They did plenty of damage all by themselves, (and) Israel did plenty of damage to Iran and its proxies, but there's no question our actions contributed significantly," he said without elaborating.
Hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said not heeding US warnings to ease up attacks on Iran's armed allies help put them on the backfoot.
Biden had counseled Netanyahu not to retaliate strongly after the Islamic Republic's first ever direct attack on Israel in April - advice he largely heeded. But the White House blessed a sharp response to another salvo in October in which Israel pounded military targets and destroyed Tehran's Russian-provided anti-aircraft missiles.
"Now major authoritarian states are aligning more closely - Iran, Russia, China, North Korea - but that's more out of weakness than out of strength," Biden said.
Data from oil tanker tracking firms shows that during Biden's presidency, Iran exported approximately 2 billion barrels of oil—a significant increase compared to the volumes recorded between 2019 and 2021.
Trump has pledged to crack down on the trade to deprive Iran of revenue for foreign military activities, saying he will pressure China - Iran's top customer - to stop buying.
A comprehensive strategic partnership treaty will guide the relationship between Russia and Iran for the next two decades, according to a TASS news agency report on Tuesday, citing Iran's ambassador to Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the partnership deal with Iran will not be directed against any third country.
"This agreement, like our agreement with the DPRK, is not directed against any country and is constructive in nature, aimed at strengthening the capabilities of Russia and Iran in various parts of the world, the ability to better develop the economy, resolve social issues and ensure reliable defense capability," Russia's RIA Novosti quoted Lavrov as saying at a press conference on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Russia on January 17.
The signing of the long-anticipated agreement is expected to take place following their discussions.
Iran's president told NBC News that Tehran is ready for talks with the United States and European Union, emphasizing that Iran is committed to peace in a dovish message likely aimed at the incoming US administration.
"We are ready for dialogue; we accept an equal conversation that considers our dignity and wisdom, and we will not submit to force in any way," Masoud Pezeshkian told NBC in an interview in Tehran.
His official website framed the remarks as referring to the United States and European Union.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to peace and de-escalation in the region and globally, condemns the Zionist regime's war-mongering, aggression, and genocide, and stands ready for honorable and equal negotiations," he added.
The interview was broadcast on the American television network on Wednesday in spite of the fact the two nations have no diplomatic ties and Iran's Supreme Leader has spoken out against negotiating with the US.
Pezeshkian has consistently advocated for regional and global peace, as the nation's armed allies across the region face increasing challenges.
“We desire friendly relations with the countries of the region and the world, and we are striving to establish peace and security both inside and outside the country,” he said last month during a visit to North Khorasan province.
Pezeshkian made similar remarks in September, accusing Israel of provoking an all-out war as the Jewish state was in the midst of a series of airstrikes targeting Iran's largest military ally, Hezbollah in Lebanon, alongside the war in Gaza against Iran-backed Hamas.
"We want to live in peace; we don't want war," Pezeshkian told Reuters. "It is Israel that seeks to create this all-out conflict."
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in a speech last week that advocates of negotiating with the United States are "intimidated by the enemy", the two countries not having diplomatic ties since 1980.
He urged officials of the Islamic Republic to disregard "the unreasonable demands of Americans" when addressing key issues, including the hijab, inflation, and currency.
Responding to the question, "Why do we negotiate with Europeans but not engage with the United States?" Khamenei said, "America's enmity toward Iran and the Revolution is deeply rooted and relentless."
US President-elect Donald Trump is set to officially assume office as President of the United States in less than a week, on January 20.
During his first term, Trump implemented a series of measures aimed at weakening Iran’s economy and curbing its regional influence, notably its nuclear program. He withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal with Tehran but did not pursue negotiations that could lead to a new agreement.
In a clear signal of the incoming administration’s intentions, Trump’s newly appointed senior adviser on the Middle East, Massad Boulos, said that President-elect Donald Trump plans to revive his maximum pressure strategy against Iran, further emphasizing the goal of enforcing Iran’s isolation.
On Monday, The Economist described Iran as "vulnerable to a Trumpian all-out economic assault." Similarly, The Spectator wrote, "Trump’s presidency could spell the end of Iran’s regime."
French-Iranian author and illustrator Marjane Satrapi has declined France's highest state honor, the Legion d'Honneur, protesting what she described as the country's "hypocrisy" in its dealings with Iran.
"I can't ignore what I see as a hypocritical attitude towards Iran, which forged the other part of my identity," Satrapi wrote in a letter to France's culture minister, shared on her social media on Monday.
"I can't continue seeing the children of Iranian oligarchs come to spend their holidays in France, even become naturalized, while at the same time young dissidents have difficulty in obtaining a tourist visa to come to see what the country of the Enlightenment and human rights looks like," she added in the Instagram post.
Satrapi, a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic, left the country in 1994 and became a French citizen in 2006. Her work, including Persepolis, has drawn global attention to the challenges of life under Iran's theocratic rule.
Khaled Pirzadeh, a political prisoner and former bodybuilding champion, has attempted suicide after being denied medical care at Tehran's Evin prison.
Pirzadeh's suicide attempt occurred shortly after he released an audio message from prison, in which he accused authorities of depriving him of essential medications, including those for seizures and asthma.
He also noted that his sciatica pain had worsened significantly due to the lack of treatment.
An Instagram account associated with Pirzadeh reported that after his suicide attempt, he was taken to a hospital, where his wounds were stitched, before being sent back to prison.
In January last year, Pirzadeh was sentenced to a total of five years for “assembly and collusion against national security” and an additional eight months for “propaganda against the regime.”
Last year, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) published a report which said that inmates in Ward Four of Evin Prison were suffering from severe overcrowding, abysmal hygiene, and hunger, most of whom were political detainees.
