Iran pushes back on Zangezur corridor deal, sets talks with Armenia

Larijani, who also serves as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s personal representative to the council, said he would sign a “bilateral security agreement” with Iraq and meet “various currents” in the country.

“Iran’s approach with neighbors is to consider both the security of Iranians and the security of neighbors,” he told state broadcaster IRIB before departing for Baghdad.

In Iraq, Larijani’s trip comes days after Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reiterated there was “no reason” for weapons to be held outside state institutions, and said he had used a mix of political and military pressure to prevent Iran-aligned armed groups from joining last month’s 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran.

Baghdad says it has thwarted 29 planned attacks by such groups on US bases in the country.

Iraq's political landscape is divided into competing Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish blocs. Recent power shifts have seen Shia factions, such as the Sadrist Movement and the Iran-backed Shia Coordination Framework, gain prominence, though Kurdish and Sunni groups still hold significant roles. Iran has historically backed Shia militias, some of which are now part of Iraq's security apparatus through Popular Mobilization Forces.

Trip to Lebanon

Larijani’s three-day trip will also take him to Lebanon, where he said he would deliver unspecified messages to officials and discuss expanding trade ties.

“National unity in Lebanon must be preserved in all conditions. Lebanon’s independence is important to us and we will help to maintain it,” he said.

The visit comes amid renewed friction between Tehran and Beirut over the Lebanese government’s plan to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s foreign ministry last week condemned remarks by Khamenei aide Ali-Akbar Velayati rejecting the disarmament decision, calling them “flagrant and unacceptable interference” in domestic affairs.

The ministry said Lebanon’s future and political system were matters “decided solely by the Lebanese people” and warned Tehran to “mind its own business.”

Beirut’s cabinet earlier this month instructed the army to draft a plan by year-end to bring all weapons under state control, an implicit challenge to Hezbollah, which has vowed to resist disarmament.

Senior Iranian officials, including Velayati and military commander Iraj Masjedi, have publicly opposed the move, describing it as an American- and Israeli-driven policy that will fail.

Khamenei appointed Larijani to his new role on Thursday, two days after President Masoud Pezeshkian named him as SNSC secretary.

With the appointment, Larijani replaces Ali Akbar Ahmadian both as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and as one of Khamenei’s two designated representatives to the body. Saeed Jalili, who served as SNSC secretary from 2007 to 2013, is the other representative currently serving in that capacity.

Olga Weissberg collapsed in her home late Saturday and was pronounced dead at the scene by Magen David Adom medics.

She had been wounded on June 15 in an Iranian missile strike during the 12-day war, but was later discharged from hospital. Israeli media reports said her health had deteriorated in recent days.

Weissberg is the second Holocaust survivor whose death has been linked to the June attacks. Ivette Shmilovitz, 95, was killed in a missile strike on Petah Tikva, a city east of Tel Aviv, on June 17.

Iran and Israel fought a 12-day conflict in June that included US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow, and Israeli strikes that destroyed critical infrastructure, killing several senior military and scientific figures as well as hundreds of civilians.

Iran responded with missile strikes that killed 31 civilians and one off-duty soldier, according to official figures published by the Israeli government.

The Islamic Republic says 1,062 people were also killed by Israel during the 12-day conflict, including 786 military personnel and 276 civilians.

Omid Mohammad-Alikhan, a member of Iran’s Association of Travel Agencies, told state news agency IRNA that with some embassies halting tourist visa issuance, between 40,000 and 50,000 people remain in limbo.

The Swiss embassy has suspended tourist visas, France has limited operations, the South African mission is closed, Brazil’s embassy has yet to reopen, and Japan plans to resume work in the coming days, he said.

The disruption has hit hardest those needing to travel on fixed dates, such as students who must arrive for the start of the academic year and athletes travelling to competitions or training camps.

Hormatollah Rafiei, head of Iran’s Association of Air and Tourism Agencies, said more than 250 international flights were cancelled during the conflict, preventing over 30,000 people from travelling abroad and leaving airlines and accommodation providers owing passengers over 600 billion tomans (about $6.5 million).

Rafiei criticized a government directive instructing travel agencies to refund customers directly, saying airlines, hotels and booking platforms must first reimburse the agencies.

“Until these companies return the money, we cannot refund the passengers,” he said, adding that despite airlines’ claims of repaying 80% of the funds, agencies had not received the money.

Incoming tourism hit

Iran's tourism sector has also been hit by a sharp drop in foreign arrivals. Deputy Tourism Minister Anoushirvan Mohseni-Bandpey said 330,000 foreign tourists visited Iran in July, down 53% from a year earlier, blaming the war and what he called “Iranophobia” campaigns.

He said visa issuance for most European countries has stopped, but travel between Iran and Asian nations, Turkey, Russia and China continues. Recovering pre-war levels would require time and confidence-building, he added.

Air traffic remains far below pre-war levels despite the reopening of major airports 10 days after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

Routes to Europe and East Asia, including Austria, Germany, China and Thailand, remain suspended, while flights to regional hubs such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have also been sharply reduced.

“It heated up after the start of the war, and it’s still going on,” one Israeli official told the FT.

Since the June 24 ceasefire, Iranian-aligned groups have attempted to exploit a recently identified Microsoft server software vulnerability to attack Israeli companies, according to chief executive of Israeli cyber threat intelligence company ClearSky, Boaz Dolev.

While the missiles stopped following the ceasefire that ended the 12-day war which saw massive destruction both sides, Iran's cyber war has continued at full pace, as reported by Iran International last month.

“Although there is a ceasefire in the physical world, in the cyber arena, [the attacks] did not stop,” Dolev added.

Spear-phishing messages purporting to be from diplomats and the prime minister’s office have also surged, cyber security company Check Point told the FT.

During the June conflict, Israel-linked hackers carried out some of the most disruptive strikes of the campaign. Gonjeshke Darande, a group widely regarded as aligned with Israel, claimed responsibility for destroying $90mn from Iran’s Nobitex cryptocurrency exchange and crippling services at Bank Sepah and Bank Pasargad by disabling their main and backup data centers.

While Iran’s capabilities were not to be underestimated, none of the wartime attacks on Israel had dramatic impact, Moty Cristal, a crisis negotiator and lieutenant colonel in the Israeli military reserves, told the FT.

Dolev said Iranian-linked groups had retaliated with hack-and-leak operations against about 50 Israeli companies, alongside attempts to plant malware aimed at destroying computer systems.

While they appeared unable to penetrate the defenses of Israel’s military or largest firms, he said, the attackers targeted smaller, more vulnerable businesses in their supply chains.

These included logistics and fuel providers as well as human resources firms, with hackers later releasing the CVs of thousands of Israelis with defense and security backgrounds.

Ebrahim Aziz said that Tehran is not afraid of dialogue but accused Washington of repeatedly breaking its commitments.

“Some interpret negotiation as retreat, but this view is incorrect. Iran has consistently engaged with strength and adherence to principles, while the other side has repeatedly violated its obligations,” Azizi said at a press conference.

He added that Iran remains open to talks only if the other party respects the fundamental rules of negotiation.

“No specific date or venue has been set for new talks, and it is possible that the outcome of our assessments will be that negotiating with an uncommitted side is not permissible,” he said.

Azizi reaffirmed Iran’s right to uranium enrichment, saying that while Iran would not negotiate the principle of enrichment, discussions could occur regarding the level and percentage of enrichment.

He also emphasized that lifting sanctions is a critical national interest, but Tehran demands lasting guarantees given past experiences with broken deals.

The 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear program. The US withdrawal under former President Donald Trump in 2018 triggered a gradual unraveling of the deal, with Iran scaling back its commitments and European parties failing to deliver promised economic benefits.

Regarding Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Azizi said Tehran suspended cooperation due to the agency’s misleading reports that “paved the way for military attacks.”

He accused IAEA chief Rafael Grossi of politicizing the agency and said that future cooperation would be restructured according to new parliamentary laws.

Iran’s state-run English-language newspaper Tehran Times reported on Friday that Tehran and Washington may start Norway-mediated indirect talks in August, covering Iran’s nuclear program and compensation demands over the June war with Israel and the US.

The US has called Iran’s compensation demand “ridiculous,” urging Tehran to stop funding militias and its nuclear program.

Iran and the US held five rounds of talks earlier this year; a sixth was suspended after Israeli airstrikes on Iranian sites triggered a 12-day conflict with casualties on both sides.