US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in a phone call on Saturday "reiterated their shared commitment to preventing Iran from developing or obtaining a nuclear weapon," according to a press release by the State Department.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported on Saturday that Iranian intelligence services had obtained a large volume of sensitive material from Israel, including documents it says are related to the Jewish state's nuclear and strategic facilities.
The material was transferred out of Israeli territory and is under examination, the report said citing informed sources.
The state-run media described the documents as highly sensitive but did not provide evidence to support the assertions.
In April, Israel's Shin Bet arrested Roy Mizrahi and Almog Atias, both 24, residents of Nesher in northern Israel on suspicion of conducting intelligence-gathering missions on behalf of Iran, in the town of Kfar Ahim, where Defense Minister Israel Katz resides.
"The arrest of these individuals, if related to the documents obtained by Iran, took place after the documents were shipped out of the occupied territories (Israel)," Iran's state TV said in its report on Saturday.
According to The Times of Israel, Mizrahi and Atias were recruited via an encrypted Telegram channel and carried out tasks that included transferring a suspected explosive device. Israeli officials have accused them of knowingly cooperating with Iranian handlers throughout 2025.
In response to the arrests, Defense Minister Katz thanked security services for “foiling an Iranian plot” and Israeli authorities have signaled plans to file serious indictments.
The case is part of what Israeli security officials describe as a growing trend of Iranian efforts to recruit Israeli citizens—often for small sums of money—to carry out intelligence and sabotage operations.
In 2018, Israel said it had stolen Iran's nuclear documents including 55,000 pages and 55,000 digital files from a warehouse in Tehran's Shourabad area through an intelligence operation.
Iran has since been accusing the UN nuclear watchdog of using those documents in its reports about the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities.
Washington’s calls for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment are a pretext to derail nuclear negotiations, not a genuine concern about weapons development, a former Iranian lawmaker said Saturday.
“The Americans know we are not seeking nuclear weapons,” Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a former member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, told ISNA news agency. “They just want to undermine the Islamic system in Iran and pressure us into giving up our rights.”
“The Islamic Republic has paid a high price—human, political, and economic—to develop its nuclear industry,” he added. “Stopping enrichment would mean discarding that investment.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that Tehran is open to nuclear inspections but will not accept pressure or coercion from foreign powers.
In a meeting with Kazakh Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu in Tehran, Pezeshkian said Iran’s nuclear program is transparent and has never pursued weapons. “We are ready for inspections,” he said. “But we will not tolerate bullying or coercion. No one else has the right to decide our nation’s future.”
He reiterated that the country’s nuclear activities have been verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and said restricting nations’ access to vital technologies amounts to denying them “God-given blessings.”
Iran on Saturday condemned a US decision to bar citizens from 12 countries, including Iran, from entering the United States, calling it a “racist and discriminatory measure” that violates international law.
The response came after US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday banning most travelers from a dozen nations, citing terrorism and national security concerns.
Alireza Hashemi Raja, director general for Iranian Affairs Abroad at Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said the move reflected “a supremacist and racist mindset” in Washington.
"This decision targets Iranian nationals solely based on their religion and nationality,” he said in a statement. “It constitutes racial discrimination and systemic racism within the American ruling establishment.”
He added that the ban showed "deep-seated hostility toward the Iranian people and Muslims" and amounted to a violation of international legal norms, including the prohibition of discrimination and basic human rights.
Hashemi Raja urged the United Nations and international rights groups to oppose the order, saying Iran would take “all necessary measures” to protect its citizens abroad.
US cites Iran's terror record, lack of cooperation
The proclamation said Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and regularly fails to cooperate with US security agencies. It added that Tehran has historically refused to take back its deported nationals.
“Iran is the source of significant terrorism around the world,” the statement said.
Trump defended the order on Thursday, saying countries on the list “don’t have things under control.” Speaking to reporters at the White House, he added: “We want to keep bad people out of our country.”
Ban includes 12 nations, partial limits for 7 more
Effective June 9, the directive restricts travel from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
Seven additional countries — Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela — face partial restrictions.
The White House said the decision followed a security review that found “persistent failures” in identity verification, criminal recordkeeping, and counterterrorism cooperation.
Exceptions and past cases cited by US
The order exempts US permanent residents, valid visa holders, and individuals deemed to serve national interests. It also excludes persecuted ethnic or religious minorities from the ban.
Trump cited recent violent incidents involving foreign nationals — including a Molotov cocktail attack in Colorado — as evidence of the need for stronger screening. The suspect in that case was Egyptian, a country not affected by the ban.
An Iranian lawmaker on Saturday criticized the country’s foreign ministry for lacking clarity and firmness in its handling of nuclear negotiations, urging officials to assert Iran’s red lines more clearly and confidently.
Ali Asghar Nakhaeirad, a member of parliament from Mashhad, said the ministry has been “negotiating from the lowest end of national demands instead of asserting the full scope of Iran’s goals as the official position,” and called for a stronger diplomatic posture.
Speaking at a press conference in Khorasan Razavi province, Nakhaeirad said Iran’s 60% uranium enrichment capability must be treated as a non-negotiable red line. “The Iranian people have paid a heavy price to achieve this level of nuclear advancement. Not even one percent should be compromised,” he said.
He accused the foreign ministry of treating the enrichment program as a bargaining chip rather than a pillar of national strength. “We must negotiate from a position of power, not from fear or concession,” he warned, adding that retreating from principled positions only emboldens adversaries.
Nakhaeirad said he has formally submitted a question to the foreign minister in parliament and urged the government to deliver “a clear and decisive message” to Western powers ahead of further talks. “This is not a time for appeasement or hesitation. What we need is revolutionary, assertive diplomacy,” he said.