Iran says US contradictions hinder nuclear talks

The registry, one of the world’s largest with over 8,500 vessels, has come under renewed pressure from the US and watchdog groups over its role in what they describe as enabling illicit oil shipments from Iran. Ships removed from the Panamanian registry can no longer operate under the country’s flag.

The move follows criticism from US-based United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which accused Panama of being the "flag of choice" for Iranian oil trade in violation of US sanctions.

UANI says nearly 17% of vessels suspected of transporting Iranian crude sail under Panama's flag, using tactics such as flag-hopping, false ownership documentation, and disabling tracking systems.

“This is not just a failure of Panama's registry. It’s a direct threat to global sanctions compliance and regional and US security,” UANI said in a statement last month.

Panama has defended its enforcement record, citing Executive Decree No. 512, which empowers authorities to deregister ships linked to sanctioned entities. In March, 107 vessels were removed, with 18 more under review.

The Maritime Authority said it has reinforced controls on ship-to-ship operations and is collaborating closely with the United States to prevent sanctions evasion.

In 2019, Panama signed an agreement with Liberia and the Marshall Islands to exchange data on suspect vessels.

The measures come as Iran expands its oil exports, despite sanctions. Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad recently announced a production boost of 150,000 barrels per day, with plans to increase daily oil and gas output further through $10 billion in new energy projects.

While Tehran has not addressed the UANI report directly, it has consistently rejected US sanctions as illegitimate and maintains that its exports are legal under international law.

In recent months, the US has stepped up enforcement efforts, seizing Iranian tankers in the Persian Gulf. Some vessels were found using forged Iraqi documents, according to Iraqi officials.

“I hope that, in light of the new regional conditions and Lebanon’s new circumstances, a new chapter of respectful relations between Iran and Lebanon will begin,” Araghchi said at Rafic Hariri Airport.

Araghchi also met with his Lebanese counterpart, Youssef Rajji, and is also scheduled to meet the country’s president, parliament speaker and prime minister during his visit.

Lebanon elected Joseph Aoun as its new president in January 2025 — a figure backed by the United States who is now working to strengthen the army and counterbalance Hezbollah's influence after the Iran-backed militant group was severely weakened by Israel last year in a spate of high-stakes military operations.

Lebanon’s new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, said in late May that "the era of exporting the Iranian revolution is over," adding, "We will not remain silent in the face of weapons outside the control of the state."

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Lebanon’s army has largely disarmed Hezbollah in its southern strongholds — in part with the help of Israeli intelligence.

The country’s new government continues enforcing a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, which began last year but has seen both sides alleging scores of breaches from the other.

Araghchi made no mention of these developments in his remarks and instead said that Iran would continue to support Lebanon against Israel, while stressing that this support does not amount to interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

“Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are of great importance to us and to the entire region,” he said. “We have supported Lebanon’s sovereignty at all stages, and we will continue to do so against the Zionist regime’s occupation — this is simply the support of a friend for its friends and not an act of interference.”

“No country in the region has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of other regional countries,” he added.

BBC Persian staff members' relatives in Iran are being subjected to arbitrary interrogations, travel bans, passport confiscations and threats of asset seizures, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said in a statement.

“These acts are clearly designed to exploit family ties as a means of coercion,” Davie said, adding Tehran authorities were “pressuring our journalists to abandon their work or return to Iran under false pretences.”

Iranian authorities have targeted its Persian language journalists covering the country over the past decade, the BBC says, prompting the broadcaster to lodge urgent complaints with the UN Human Rights Council in 2018 and again in 2022.

The British public broadcaster is preparing to lodge a new complaint with the UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures, according to its statement on Monday.

In recent years, other journalists from other Persian-language outlets including those from Iran International have reported similar attempts at intimidation.

In May 2025, British authorities arrested and charged three Iranian nationals—Mostafa Sepahvand, Farhad Javadi Manesh, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori—under the UK's National Security Act.

They are accused of conducting surveillance and reconnaissance activities targeting Iran International journalists inside the United Kingdom.

The threats against Iran International staff have become a recurrent issue, dating back to 2022 when London's Metropolitan Police revealed plots against staff in London. In 2023, the threats reached a climax with the UK's MI5 saying it could no longer protect the team, forcing a temporary relocation to the US.

In March 2024, Pouria Zeraati, the television host of the "Last Word" program on Iran International, was stabbed by a group of unidentified individuals as he exited his residence in London.

Journalism watchdog Reporters Without Borders said last year that Tehran was carrying out "systematic targeting of journalists reporting on Iran from abroad, in an effort to silence them."

"London, home to major Persian-language broadcasters, has been a hotspot for such attacks because of the large number of Iranian journalists based there," the group added.

The slogan “nuclear energy is our absolute right” emerged in the early 2000s, as tensions over Iran’s program escalated and international pressure mounted. It was printed on official banners and chanted in state-sponsored rallies.

But it was never a grassroots demand.

“I want to throw up when I hear the phrase nuclear energy,” says Babak, a software engineer in his mid-forties. “Everyone I know feels the same—it reminds them of high prices and empty pockets.”

It’s easy to see that the grudge runs far deeper and wider than the nuclear program.

“This nuclear standoff has made the wall between us and the rest of the world much taller. Every time (Foreign Minister Abbas) Araghchi says ‘non-negotiable’, he triggers a collective trauma: the lives we’ve lost to his ilk’s stupid posturing.”

They showed some reason with the 2015 deal, Babak says, but it was all undone when President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out.

The chants about nuclear rights died out with that agreement. The term ‘enrichment’ crawled back to technical reports where it belongs.

Now, amid talks with the United States, the government is reviving it, calling enrichment “a non-negotiable right of the Iranian nation.”

Pride, what pride?

But the message holds little weight for many Iranians who increasingly feel their interests and those of Iran’s rulers are mutually exclusive.

“How am I benefiting from this technology, this so-called right?” my neighbour Sonia asks as she breastfeeds her baby in stifling afternoon heat during the daily power cut.

“Isn't one supposed purpose of nuclear energy generating electricity? Why are we having more power cuts with every passing year, then? Why is the share of nuclear power in our grid a literal zero?”

Sonia’s questions are rarely, if ever, discussed in Iran’s media. The nuclear program is a source of national pride, we’re told, and not being proud of it is a crime.

The disconnect between rulers and ruled is nearly complete—so is the gap between official claims and lived experience.

“Their contempt for us people is unreal. And it’s matched by ours for them,” Sonia concludes, her baby now fast asleep. “It’s gotten to a point where many oppose a deal that might improve their lives, because it would benefit the Islamic Republic far more.”

It’s about them, not us

Not everyone is so antagonistic toward the government. Some—more among the older generations, in my experience—are equally critical of regional and world powers.

Retired chemistry teacher Kazem is one of them. He’s the only one of four friends playing chess in the park who is willing to talk to me.

“The Americans first said low-level enrichment would be ok,” he says, “but then changed their position to ‘zero enrichment’, perhaps under pressure from hawks or (Israeli prime minister) Netanyahu.”

“I dislike most of what the government does, but on this one I think it’s the others in Europe and America who are being unreasonable and blocking a potential path forward.”

Kazem’s friends shake their heads in disagreement. One murmurs something to the effect that no sane man believes a word that “this bunch”, Iranian officials, say.

The distrust, in my view, is at the heart of every position that most ordinary Iranians take in relation to those who rule the country.

“The idea of peaceful nuclear energy is a total lie. Yes, it does have many applications—in medicine, for example. But show me just one hospital that’s benefiting from what’s being done in Natanz and Fordow.”

Reza is a technician at a private hospital in Tehran. He says he agrees with the official line about nations’ right to peaceful nuclear energy.

“But this has nothing to do with the nation,” he says, voice rising. “It’s about them, (supreme leader) Khamenei, the (Revolutionary) Guards and the leeches sucking Iran dry and sending the riches to their brood in Canada.

“If it was about the nation, the nation would have been consulted about it. Has anybody ever asked you if you’d rather have centrifuges or a decent car?”

Most were executed after being convicted of murder or drug-related offenses, while others faced charges such as rape or corruption on earth.

HRANA also reported the execution of political prisoner Pedram Madani on charges of allegedly spying for Israel, as well as a public hanging in Lorestan province.

Twelve new death sentences were issued in May, including for political prisoner Mohammad-Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh and poet Peyman Farah-Avar, whose charges stemmed from protest-related writings, the group said.