Three charged in UK with aiding Iranian intelligence, targeting Iran International

“There’s not plenty of time,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier. “We’re going to have a solution one way or the other. It’s either going to be violent or non-violent. And I far prefer non-violent.”

“I don’t want it to be a violent thing, but they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” he added. “I know so many Iranians from New York, from Washington, from a different place. These are great people. You know, they have to view them as people.”

Trump said Iran appears interested in engaging. “Iran wants to trade with us, okay, if you can believe that. And I’m okay with it. I’m using trade to settle scores and to make peace,” he said. “I’ve told Iran, we make a deal, you're going to be really... you’re going to be very happy.”

He also questioned why Iran would pursue nuclear energy given its vast oil reserves. “When you have unlimited amounts of oil and gas, why are you putting up nuclear civil?” he said. “If you’re sitting on one of the largest piles of oil in the world, why?”

Trump says Iran got US proposal

Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters that Iran had received a formal US proposal for a nuclear agreement and warned Tehran not to delay. “They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad—something bad's going to happen,” he said.

Axios reported Thursday that the written proposal was delivered during the fourth round of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials last Sunday in Muscat, Oman. The document, carried by White House envoy Steve Witkoff, reportedly outlines terms for a monitored civilian nuclear program.

According to the report, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took the proposal back to Tehran for review by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials. U.S. and diplomatic sources described the offer as the first formal one from the Trump administration since talks began in April.

Iran, however, denied receiving any proposal. Araghchi wrote on X that no such document had been delivered and reaffirmed Iran’s position on uranium enrichment.

“The messaging we—and the world—continue to receive is confusing and contradictory,” Araghchi said. “Mark my words: there is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to enrichment for peaceful purposes.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking Thursday from Turkey, said diplomacy remains on the table but emphasized that the decision ultimately lies with Iran’s Supreme Leader.

“I hope he chooses the path of peace and prosperity, not a destructive path,” Rubio said.

In February, a jury found Hadi Matar guilty of second-degree attempted murder for the August 12, 2022, attack at the Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York.

Rushdie was stabbed multiple times in the face and neck during a speaking event, leaving him blind in one eye.

In a separate charge, Matar was sentenced to seven years for second-degree assault for stabbing Henry Reese, co-founder of Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, who was hosting the event. Both sentences will run concurrently.

He also faces federal charges accusing him of attempting to murder Rushdie as an act of terrorism and of providing material support to Hezbollah. A separate trial on those charges is pending in Buffalo.

Rushdie, 77, has lived under threat since 1989, when Iran’s then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for his death over The Satanic Verses, a novel deemed blasphemous by the Islamic Republic.

Speaking about the trauma suffered by Rushdie, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said: "He's traumatized. He has nightmares about what he experienced."

"Obviously this is a major setback for an individual that was starting to emerge in his very later years of life into society after going into hiding after the fatwa."

Matar's attorney, Nathaniel Barone, said his client plans to appeal the verdict.

“They have a proposal. More importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad—something bad's going to happen,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving the United Arab Emirates.

Axios reported Thursday that the written proposal was delivered during the fourth round of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials last Sunday in Muscat, Oman. It was the first formal offer made by the Trump administration since negotiations began in April, Axios cited US and diplomatic sources saying.

The document, handed over by White House envoy Steve Witkoff, outlines terms for a civilian nuclear program, with specific provisions for international monitoring and verification.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly took the proposal back to Tehran for review by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, and other senior officials.

Witkoff described the proposal as “elegant” and “very big” in a recent briefing to the United Nations Security Council, according to Axios, but acknowledged that more work was needed. A fifth round of talks has not yet been scheduled.

Iran has responded positively in public statements. Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei told NBC News that Tehran is ready to stop enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels, reduce its stockpiles and accept inspections—if the United States lifts all sanctions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking Thursday from Turkey, said the diplomatic window remains open but warned the decision ultimately rests with Iran’s leadership.

“In the end, the decision lies in the hands of one person, and that's the Supreme Leader in Iran, and I hope he chooses the path of peace and prosperity, not a destructive path,” Rubio told reporters.

Gharibabadi said he and fellow Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi hosted the political directors of the UK, France, and Germany for discussions aimed at advancing diplomatic efforts.

“Iran and the E3 are determined to sustain and make best use of diplomacy,” he wrote on X. “We will meet again, as appropriate, to continue our dialogue.”

A German diplomatic source told Iran International ahead of the meeting that discussions would focus on Iran’s nuclear program, but stressed, “These are not negotiations.” The source said Germany was represented by Dominik Mutter, Political Director at the Federal Foreign Office.

Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran remained open to talks with Europe, “even if their own policies have led to some isolation in these negotiations.”

Few details have emerged from the meeting, and no major breakthroughs have been announced.

Under the UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, the three European signatories – Britain, France, and Germany – have the authority to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran through a mechanism known as the "snapback," if they determine that Tehran is not complying with the agreement.

Diplomats told Reuters that the E3 could move to trigger the snapback mechanism as early as August if no significant progress is made in negotiations. The deadline to do so under the resolution is October 18.

Separately, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Friday in Istanbul with the national security advisors of the UK, France, and Germany to discuss both Iran and the war in Ukraine, according to a US official and a Reuters witness.

The United States and Iran have held four rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations mediated by Oman since April. Both sides have described the talks as “constructive,” though no formal agreement has been reached.

Meanwhile, during his visit to Persian Gulf states this week, US President Donald Trump said Iran had “sort of agreed” to American terms and declared, “We’re getting very close to a deal.” Trump reiterated that Iran must never obtain a nuclear weapon and warned Tehran faces either “a very, very nice step” or “a violent step — the violence like people haven’t seen before.”

On Friday, Trump added that Iran has received a formal US proposal and must act quickly. Axios reported that the written proposal was handed to Iranian negotiators during the fourth round of talks in Oman and taken back to Tehran for consultation with senior officials.

Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris were arrested in May 2022 during a tourist trip to Iran. Both were charged with espionage, which they deny. They remain in detention in Iran’s Evin prison.

“They have been held hostage… detained in appalling conditions that amount to torture,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told France 2 television. He said Iran had denied France’s requests for consular access.

The case was formally filed on Friday morning in The Hague, France’s foreign ministry confirmed.

Paris argues that Iran has violated the Vienna Convention, which guarantees consular rights for foreign nationals. “France is acting to defend its citizens and uphold international law,” ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said on Thursday.

Kohler, a teacher, and Paris, her partner, are the last known French citizens held in Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron has described them as “state hostages.”

France and other European Union members accuse Iran of practicing “hostage diplomacy” — detaining foreigners to pressure Western governments.

Iran denies the accusation. Its officials say the arrests followed legal procedures and reject claims of mistreatment.

The legal move comes as Iranian officials are due to meet with European diplomats in Turkey for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have reported on the use of forced confessions in Iran and poor conditions in its prisons. Iran has broadcast videos of Kohler and Paris appearing to confess. France has called the footage coerced and unreliable.