Israel warns of action if Iran resumes nuclear weapons pursuit

“It’s a provocation against France and an unacceptable choice of aggression,” President Emmanuel Macron told reporters. “It’s unacceptable for France.”

Cécile Kohler, a teacher, and her partner Jacques Paris were arrested during a tourist visit in May 2022 and remain in detention in Tehran’s Evin Prison. This week, Iranian authorities formally charged them with “espionage for Israel’s Mossad, conspiracy to overthrow the regime, and corruption on earth,” according to diplomatic and family sources cited by Agence France Presse.

“If it is indeed confirmed that they are facing these charges, we would consider those charges to be completely unjustified and unfounded,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said.

Any decision on reimposing sanctions would depend on the outcome of their case, Barrot added, saying “We have always told our interlocutors from the Iranian regime that any decision on sanctions will be conditional on resolving this issue.”

The couple’s family says they have no access to independent legal counsel. Kohler’s sister told AFP that the two had appeared before a judge who confirmed the charges.

In May, France filed a case against Iran at the International Court of Justice, accusing Tehran of violating international law through arbitrary detention and the denial of consular access. Macron has previously described the couple as “state hostages.”

Their continued detention comes amid a wider crackdown in Iran following the 12-day Israeli military campaign in late June. Iran has since executed several individuals and arrested hundreds more on charges of espionage and collaboration with Israel.

“Behind Ali, obedient to the Leader’s command, we are all proud soldiers; we will uproot the Jews with power,” the song said.

The broadcast marks the latest in a longstanding state-backed campaign of antisemitic content in Iran, home to the Middle East’s largest Jewish population after Israel.

Iran’s state media has repeatedly promoted antisemitic themes across films, festivals, and official speeches. In 2001, the government aired a mini-series titled Saint Mary that depicted Jewish communities at the time of Jesus’s birth as “lacking compassion and rationality.” The Jewish Association of Tehran criticized the series for reinforcing harmful stereotypes.

In 2005, then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted an international Holocaust cartoon competition. Ahmadinejad, who publicly denied the Holocaust, once said Israel should be “wiped off the map.” The contest continues today with backing from official cultural institutions.

Despite the state-sanctioned hostility, Iran maintains a Jewish population estimated between 8,000 and 10,000. The World Jewish Congress notes the community’s historical presence in Iran since 586 BCE, with roughly 100 synagogues still in operation.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s Jews have faced ongoing surveillance and periodic arrests.

Last week, authorities summoned and interrogated at least 35 Jewish citizens in Tehran and Shiraz over their contact with relatives in Israel, the US-based human rights group HRANA said.

Authorities have accused community members of “espionage, foreign ties, and collaboration with hostile states,” often with no evidence.

The meeting would mark the first direct engagement since President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last month.

"We have no travel announcements at this time," a White House official told Axios. The Iranian mission to the UN declined to comment.

The discussions, brokered with help from Omani and Qatari officials, follow a 12-day war between Israel and Iran that ended under a US-negotiated ceasefire. Witkoff and Araghchi have maintained contact during and since that conflict, the sources said.

Israel's Channel 12 first reported the planned meeting.

A key topic will be Iran’s growing stockpile of highly enriched uranium, including 400 kilograms enriched to 60%. US and Israeli officials say the material is currently inaccessible, sealed off by rubble at the bombed enrichment sites in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan.

Iran has since announced the suspension of all cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, citing a law passed by its parliament.

In a post on X, Araghchi said Iran remained committed to its Safeguards Agreement and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but added that any coordination with the IAEA would now be managed through Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

“In accordance with the new legislation... our cooperation with the IAEA will be channeled through Iran's Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons,” he wrote.

Araghchi told CBS on Monday that talks with the United States are unlikely to resume soon, following US airstrikes on three major nuclear sites during the 12-day war with Israel.

“I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,” Araghchi said in his first interview with an American news outlet since the June airstrikes.

“We will have to first ensure that America will not revert to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations.”

No final date for the Oslo meeting has been confirmed, and neither side has publicly acknowledged the planned talks.

The sanctions targeted companies linked to Iraqi-British businessman Salim Ahmed Said and expanding pressure on Iran’s petroleum trade and shadow fleet.

Said’s network, operating since at least 2020, used ship-to-ship transfers and forged documents to sell blended Iranian-Iraqi oil to global buyers, the Treasury said.

“Treasury will continue to target Tehran’s revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime’s access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities,” said Secretary Scott Bessent.

The Treasury Department also sanctioned several vessels accused of secretly transporting Iranian oil, increasing pressure on Iran’s "shadow fleet," it said.

Several senior officials and one entity linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah-controlled financial institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan was also targeted.

These officials conducted millions of dollars in transactions that ultimately benefited Hezbollah while concealing their involvement, according to the department.

This latest action, part of the US maximum pressure campaign on Iran, marks the eighth round of oil-trade-related sanctions since 2021.

All US-linked assets of the targeted entities are now frozen, and Americans are barred from dealings with them. The designations also expose foreign firms to secondary sanctions, heightening the cost of facilitating Iran’s oil trade.

“They killed my brother — I will kill those who did it,” mourners shouted, according to video footage shared with Iran International.

Others cried, “Iranians will die before accepting humiliation,” while crowds sang the anthem “Ey Iran,” long a rallying cry at anti-government protests.

The victims, named by local sources as Mehdi Abaei and Alireza Karbasi, were shot outside Hamedan during what state authorities called a security operation. Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported that forces opened fire on their vehicle near the Tareek-Darreh area after suspecting it of drone-related activity.

“Officers first fired warning shots, then issued a stop order before targeting the car directly,” Fars wrote.

The young men were on a recreational off-road trip — a common pastime in the area — and had no known political links, according to local reports.

One other passenger was also wounded.

The Armed Forces Judicial Organization of Hamedan confirmed the deaths and said a formal probe was underway.

“A case has been opened and field investigations are ongoing,” its local chief told state media.

Authorities have not released the names or ranks of those involved in the shooting. Sources familiar with the case said the unit responsible was affiliated with the Basij paramilitary.

The killings occurred during a wave of heightened domestic surveillance and arrests following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

Iranian authorities have detained at least 700 people on suspicion of collaboration with Israel, with hundreds reportedly arrested in Tehran. Simultaneously, checkpoints have been deployed across major cities, and a public hotline has been created to report “suspicious behavior.”

The state has also escalated its campaign of deporting Afghan refugees.