Iran’s former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was appointed as deputy by President Masoud Pezeshkian, announced his return to the post after resigning over dissatisfaction with the ministerial picks, he announced on his X.com account on August 27.

Zarif led Pezeshkian’s campaign and was in charge of an advisory council for selecting cabinet members after his win. The president later appointed him as his “strategic deputy”. However, when the final list of ministers was released, he reportedly fell out with the president, saying they were selected from the bottom of the council’s proposed options list and several of them were not reformists. He apologised to the nation and said he would resign and return to his job at the university.

Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal has said his state will apply to join the BRICS intergovernmental organization – a group which also includes Russia and China.

Russian state news outlet TASS reported that the ambassador made the announcement during a press conference, and said an application to join BRICS would be submitted after the group's Kazan summit in October.

Donald J. Trump plans to name his former rival, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard, a one-time Democrat, as honorary co-chairs of a presidential transition team that will help him select the policies and personnel of any second Trump administration, according to a campaign senior adviser.

Mr. Kennedy, who ended his independent campaign for president and endorsed Mr. Trump on Friday, described his transition role briefly in an interview that aired Monday.

“I’ve been asked to go on the transition team, you know, and to help pick the people who will be running the government,” Mr. Kennedy told Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, in an interview posted on X.

Both Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Gabbard spent most of their public life as progressive Democrats. Only four months ago, Mr. Trump was calling Mr. Kennedy a “Radical Left Lunatic” who was “far more LIBERAL than anyone running as a Democrat.” Trump allies pushed stories about Mr. Kennedy’s record of supporting abortion rights and far-left environmentalism as they tried to make his independent candidacy less appealing to Trump voters.

he world’s top 20 most expensive cities, according to Numbeo’s index, are as follows:

1. Geneva, Switzerland
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. New York City, New York
4. San Francisco, California
5. Boston, Massachusetts
6. Reykjavik, Iceland
7. Washington, D.C., United States
8. Seattle, Washington
9. Los Angeles, California
10. Chicago, Illinois
11. San Diego, California
12. Canberra, Australia
13. London, England
14. Oslo, Norway
15. Portland, Oregan
16. Tampa, Florida
17. Miami, Florida
18. Singapore, Singapore
19. Denver, Colorado
20. Adelaide, Australia

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s remarks set clear red lines for any talks taking place under the government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and renewed his warnings that Washington wasn’t to be trusted.

But his comments mirror those around the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran’s nuclear program greatly curtailed in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Yet it remains unclear just how much room Pezeshkian will have to maneuver, particularly as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war and as the U.S. prepares for a presidential election in November.

“We do not have to pin our hope to the enemy. For our plans, we should not wait for approval by the enemies,” Khamenei said in a video broadcast by state television. “It is not contradictory to engage the same enemy in some places, there’s no barrier.”

Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, also warned Pezeshkian’s Cabinet, “Do not trust the enemy.”

Khamenei, 85, has occasionally urged talks or dismissed them with Washington after then President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018.

The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment over Khamenei’s remarks. There have been indirect talks between Iran and the U.S. in recent years mediated by Oman and Qatar, two of the United States’ Middle East interlocutors when it comes to Iran.

Since the deal’s collapse, Iran has abandoned all limits that the deal put on its program, and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Surveillance cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency have been disrupted, while Iran has barred some of the Vienna-based agency’s most experienced inspectors. Iranian officials also have increasingly threatened that they could pursue atomic weapons.

The assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh also prompted Iran to threaten to retaliate against Israel.

Pezeshkian, a former lawmaker who won the presidency after a May helicopter crash killed hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, campaigned in part on a promise to reengage the West with negotiations. Khamenei’s remarks as Iran’s paramount leader could provide him with the political cover to do so. Pezeshkian’s new foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, was deeply involved in negotiations on the 2015 deal.

However, it’s not just Iran that’s facing a new presidency. The U.S. will hold a presidential election on Nov. 5, with Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump as the leading candidates. Iran has been concerned about Trump returning to power.

While the U.S. engaged in indirect talks with Iran under President Joe Biden, it remains unclear how that would carry over to a possible Harris administration. Harris, in a speech to the Democratic National Convention last week, said: “I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.”

Tuesday’s meeting between Khamenei and Pezeshkian’s Cabinet included an appearance by former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped Iran reach the 2015 deal. After the meeting, Zarif said in an online message that he would continue to serve as a vice president in Pezeshkian’s administration after earlier publicly resigning over the makeup of the Cabinet.

Telegram CEO arrested over probe into child porn, drug trafficking on app

Macron confirms arrest, denies political motive

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/pavel-durov-has-nothing-hide-telegram-says-arrested-founder-2024-08-26/

سوم شهریور، سالگرد اشغال ایران توسط قوای بریتانیا و شوروی است. در این روز، به‌رغم اعلام بی‌طرفی ایران، آنها وارد ایران شدند. ورق بزنید

Israel said to push US to present credible military threat or attack Iran’s nuclear sites