UK sanctions Iranian banker accused of aiding Revolutionary Guards

“We have been granted an exemption for a six-month period,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi, confirming the decision that enables India to continue running the strategic port on Iran’s southeastern coast along the Gulf of Oman.

Reuters cited an unnamed Indian official as saying the waiver had taken effect on Wednesday.

The decision follows US President Donald Trump’s recent comments that he hoped to reach a new trade deal with India after years of tension over tariffs and energy purchases from Russia.

Relations between India and the United States, the world's two largest democracies, have soured lately over the imports of discounted Russian oil and Trump's insistence that his intercession averted a nuclear war between India and Pakistan this year.

The waiver restores a 2018 exemption under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act (IFCA) that had allowed India to develop and use the port for Afghanistan’s reconstruction and regional trade.

The US state department withdrew that waiver effective September 29, warning that anyone operating Chabahar could face sanctions.

The renewed approval lets India proceed with its 10-year agreement signed last year with Tehran to develop and manage the port, viewed by New Delhi as a vital trade corridor linking India with Afghanistan and Central Asia while bypassing Pakistan.

For Iran, whose economy remains under heavy US sanctions, the waiver offers a rare opening.

Chabahar remains one of the few international projects connecting the country to global trade routes.

Araghchi said lifting sanctions is the Foreign Ministry’s exclusive mission, carried out “with dignity and in defense of national interests.”

“Negotiation is different from taking dictation and receiving orders; we accept fair talks based on mutual interests.”

Iran’s foreign policy, he added, aims to preserve independence while keeping dialogue open, despite renewed pressure and the reimposition of UN sanctions.

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  Qatar offers to help revive US-Iran nuclear talks

Regional mediation efforts

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Wednesday that his government is working to help revive US-Iran nuclear negotiations suspended after the June war between Iran, Israel, and the United States.

“We are trying to engage with the United States and with the Iranians to make sure that the talks come back on track between the two countries, because I believe once we have the talks started, we can achieve an agreement,” Al Thani said at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York.

Qatar, which shares the world’s largest natural gas field with Iran across the Persian Gulf, has often played a mediating role between Tehran and Western powers.

Washington demanded that Tehran halt all uranium enrichment, but Iran refused, insisting that the pursuit of peaceful nuclear technology is its legitimate international right.

“Grossi knows very well that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful,” Esmail Baghaei told Al-Jazeera.

“The consequences of Grossi’s catastrophic statements paved the way for American and Israeli aggression against Iran.”

Grossi’s comments in New York

Inspectors had not observed any suspicious activity at Iranian nuclear sites struck by the United States in June, Grossi said on Wednesday in New York, adding that monitoring had resumed in part.

“We do not see anything that would give rise to hypotheses of any substantive work going on there,” Grossi added.

"We are trying to build it back, and we are inspecting in Iran," he said, "not at every site where we should be doing it - but we are gradually coming back."

Conditional cooperation

Iran limited cooperation with the IAEA following the 12-day war in June, under legislation giving the Supreme National Security Council authority over inspection access.

Iran continues to meet its safeguards commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while adhering to the parliamentary law, Baghaei said on Tuesday.

“In fulfilling these safeguards obligations, we are maintaining interactions with the IAEA while taking into account parliament’s law, which designates the Supreme National Security Council as the authority responsible for decisions on cooperation with the agency,” Baghaei said.

Although Iran and the IAEA agreed in Cairo last month to resume inspections, doubts persist after Germany, France, and the United Kingdom triggered procedures to restore UN sanctions.

A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said satellite imagery shows continued construction at a major underground nuclear facility near Natanz.

The Iranian security chief Ali Larijani “cites my 12-Day War report but skips the part where Iran lost: Iran’s missile and drone attacks were overwhelmingly defeated by US and Israeli defenses and Israel’s crushing strikes against Iran,” Ari Cicurel, Associate Director of Foreign Policy at JINSA and author of the report “Shielded by Fire,” wrote on X.

The Iranian official had written that “Iran's armed forces demonstrated power in the war against the Zionists,” invoking the JINSA study to back his argument. But the report, released in August 2025, found that Iran’s missile and drone attacks were mostly neutralized through integrated US-Israel air and missile defenses.

US defenses decisive

The 29-page study said Iran launched 574 ballistic missiles and more than 1,000 drones between June 13 and 24, yet only 49 missiles impacted populated areas or infrastructure. It attributed Israel’s limited damage to the combined interception network, which it said achieved an 85 percent success rate.

“The vast majority of the over 500 ballistic missiles fired by Iran did no damage to Israel, that success due in large part to ad hoc US-led air defense cooperation,” the report said.

The analysis credited Washington’s role as decisive, noting that the United States deployed two THAAD missile defense batteries and several Aegis-equipped destroyers to support Israel and provided over 230 interceptors -- around a quarter of its total stockpile.

Contrasting narratives

Israel’s counterstrikes destroyed hundreds of Iranian launchers and reduced its missile stockpile from 2,500 to roughly 1,000 - 1,500, forcing Tehran to scale back its offensives, according to the report.

While Iran’s security chief portrayed the conflict as a demonstration of military strength, the JINSA study described it as a costly confrontation that exposed Iran’s vulnerabilities.

The report concluded that Israel and the United States must expand interceptor production and formalize their missile defense coordination to prevent Iran from regaining its offensive capacity.

The suspect, identified as Mohammad Adil Hussaini, had travelled to several countries, including Pakistan, and was allegedly involved in sharing sensitive material abroad, India Today reported, citing police sources.

During questioning, Hussaini allegedly said he obtained nuclear-related designs from a Russian scientist and passed them to a contact in Iran, the report said.

Police said Hussaini earned large sums from the exchange, investing part of the money in property in Dubai. Officials are investigating whether any classified information was shared, saying the matter involves foreign contacts and remains under inquiry.

Delhi Police said Hussaini, also known by several aliases, was found with one original and two forged Indian passports. He is suspected of using fake documents to obtain multiple identity cards linked to sensitive installations.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah said the racket had been operating for years and was run from the eastern city of Jamshedpur, where forged passports were produced. “Several others are under the scanner,” Kushwah said on Tuesday.

Police said Hussaini’s brother, Akhtar Hussaini, had been arrested in Mumbai for helping secure fake IDs and travelling to Persian Gulf countries to expand the network. A cafe owner linked to the operation has also been detained.

Hussaini has been remanded in seven days of police custody for questioning, Delhi Police said.