Iran rules out ‘direct talks’ with US on nuclear issue

TEHRAN: Iran on Wednesday condemned a new round of US sanctions as a “clear sign of hostility” after Washington blacklisted more than 30 people and vessels linked to its oil trade.
Washington announced the measures on Monday, targeting the head of the national oil company and others accused of brokering oil sales.
It was the second wave of sanctions in less than a month since US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy on Tehran.
The sanctions were a “clear sign of the hostility of American policymakers toward the welfare, development, and happiness of the great people of Iran,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.
In a statement, he called the measures a “wrongful, unjustified, illegitimate act that violates the human rights of the Iranian people,” and held Washington responsible.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has called for dialogue with Iran, saying he wants it to be a “great and successful country.”
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the possibility of direct negotiations with Washington on his country’s nuclear program under “pressure, threat or sanctions.”
During Trump’s first term, which ended in 2021, Washington withdrew from the landmark 2015 deal that imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
After the Trump administration reimposed sanctions in 2018, Tehran gradually rolled back its nuclear commitments.
Iran held fresh nuclear talks on Monday with Britain, France and Germany following renewed engagement in November.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Tuesday that another round of talks with the Europeans was expected within three weeks.

TUNIS: A Tunisian court sentenced eight defendants to death on Tuesday over the 2013 assassination of leftist opposition figure Mohamed Brahmi, according to local reports.
Charges included “attempting to change the state’s nature” and “inciting armed conflict,” local media reported.
Three of the defendants also received additional death sentences for “deliberate participation in premeditated murder,” according to the reports.
A ninth, who is on the run, was sentenced to five years in prison for “failing to report terrorist crimes to the authorities,” said the reports.
Tunisia still hands down death sentences, particularly in “terrorism” cases, even though a de facto moratorium in effect since 1991 means they are effectively commuted to life terms.
The verdict marked the first set of rulings in the case of Brahmi’s assassination, which took place outside his home on July 25, 2013, amid Tunisia’s turbulent post-revolution political landscape.
Demonstrators took to the streets across the country, as Brahmi’s distinctive round face and thick mustache became symbols of protest against jihadist violence.
Brahmi, a nationalist left-wing leader of the People’s Movement and member of Tunisia’s Constituent Assembly, was an outspoken critic of the Islamist-inspired government dominated by Ennahdha at the time.
His assassination further shocked the nation as it came less than six months after the killing of another prominent leftist figure, Chokri Belaid, who was also gunned down outside his home.

Brahmi had been elected in Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and later swept through the Arab World.
He was shot 14 times by two assailants in front of his wife and children.
His family had long accused Ennahdha of being behind the murder, but the then ruling party denied the allegations.
It had also pushed back against accusations of excessive leniency, blacklisting the formerly legal Salafist movement Ansar Al-Charia as a terrorist organization.
Terrorists affiliated with the Daesh claimed responsibility for both the Brahmi and Belaid assassinations.
The aftermath of the 2011 revolution saw a surge in Islamist radicalism in Tunisia with thousands of jihadist volunteers leaving to fight in Syria, Iraq and neighboring Libya.
Tunisia faced heightened security threats, with armed groups operating from the Chaambi Mountains near the Algerian border, primarily targeting security forces and the military.
In 2015, jihadist attacks in Sousse and the capital Tunis killed dozens of tourists and police, although authorities say they have since made significant progress against the extremists.
In recent years, Tunisian authorities claim significant progress in combating jihadist violence, but the country remains under a state of emergency.
In 2022, President Kais Saied — who has framed the murders of Brahmi and Belaid as national issues and often called them “martyrs” — dismissed dozens of judges after alleging they had obstructed investigations.
The high-profile killings, and the mass protests they drew, ultimately forced Ennahdha to relinquish power to a technocratic government following the adoption of a new constitution.
The crisis had nearly derailed Tunisia’s fragile democratic transition.
But political dialogue led by four civil society organizations, including the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), helped restore stability and earned the nation of 12 million the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.