Iran’s foreign minister has held *** telephone call with his counterparts in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom over their threat to potentially snap back sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Now the snap back mechanism is part of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers that saw Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium. In exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions now in the deal, there was *** part of it that said that any of those members of the deal could go and declare Iran in noncompliance with it, setting forth the clock that ultimately would snap back those UN sanctions. Now Iran contends that these European nations can’t do that. They point to the fact. America unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018, setting up years of tensions over the program that saw Iran up its enrichment to about 60% purity, *** short step away from weapons grade levels. That enrichment and other issues saw Israel launch its unprecedented 12 day war on Iran back in June. Now as of right now, the European nations and Iran are both saying that there will be another round of talks next week, but the clock is ticking. The Europeans had said if Iran doesn’t reach an agreement by the end of the month, that it will start the snapback process, and that could mean more pressure on Iran’s ailing economy.
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Iran said Monday it hanged a man accused of spying for Israel, the latest as Tehran carries out its largest wave of executions in decades.Iran identified the executed man as Bahman Choobiasl, whose case wasn’t immediately known in Iranian media reports or to activists monitoring the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. However, the execution came after Iran vowed to confront its enemies after the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program this weekend.Video above: Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nearsIran accused Choobiasl of meeting with officials from the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Iran’s Mizan news agency, which is the judiciary’s official mouthpiece, said Choobiasl worked on “sensitive telecommunications projects“ and reported about the “paths of importing electronic devices.”Iran is known to have hanged nine people for espionage since its June war with Israel. Israel waged an air war with Iran, killing some 1,100 people, including many military commanders. Iran launched missile barrages targeting Israel in response.Earlier this month, Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, who it alleged spied for Israel. Activists disputed that, saying Shahbazi was tortured into a false confession after writing a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to fight for Kyiv.Iran has faced multiple nationwide protests in recent years, fueled by anger over the economy, demands for women’s rights and calls for the country’s theocracy to change.In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the number could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Iran said Monday it hanged a man accused of spying for Israel, the latest as Tehran carries out its largest wave of executions in decades.
Iran identified the executed man as Bahman Choobiasl, whose case wasn’t immediately known in Iranian media reports or to activists monitoring the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. However, the execution came after Iran vowed to confront its enemies after the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program this weekend.
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Video above: Iran confers with European nations on its nuclear program as sanctions deadline nears
Iran accused Choobiasl of meeting with officials from the Israeli spy agency Mossad. Iran’s Mizan news agency, which is the judiciary’s official mouthpiece, said Choobiasl worked on “sensitive telecommunications projects“ and reported about the “paths of importing electronic devices.”
Iran is known to have hanged nine people for espionage since its June war with Israel. Israel waged an air war with Iran, killing some 1,100 people, including many military commanders. Iran launched missile barrages targeting Israel in response.
Earlier this month, Iran executed Babak Shahbazi, who it alleged spied for Israel. Activists disputed that, saying Shahbazi was tortured into a false confession after writing a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offering to fight for Kyiv.
Iran has faced multiple nationwide protests in recent years, fueled by anger over the economy, demands for women’s rights and calls for the country’s theocracy to change.
In response to those protests and the June war, Iran has been putting prisoners to death at a pace unseen since 1988, when it executed thousands at the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights and the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran put the number of people executed in 2025 at over 1,000, noting the number could be higher as Iran does not report on each execution.
Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
