Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a press conference in Moscow, Russia, July 31, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/Pool

Syria’s foreign minister met Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris on Tuesday to discuss security arrangements in southern Syria, two Syrian sources familiar with the meeting said.

Syrian and Israeli officials have been conducting US-mediated talks on de-escalating conflict in southern Syria. A previous round of these talks was held in Paris in late July but ended without a final accord.

Syrian state news agency SANA said Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met with an Israeli delegation on Tuesday, but did not mention Dermer.

The agency said the discussions focused on de-escalation, non-interference in Syrian domestic affairs, and reactivating a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

There was no public comment by the Israeli government on the meeting.

A Syrian security source familiar with the meeting said Shibani and Dermer met for several hours, along with their respective teams.

The source said Shibani emphasized that Israel’s ongoing interventions in southern Syria, including incursions into the provinces of Quneitra and Deraa, risked further destabilizing the region.

The two sides agreed to continue talks focused on security coordination in southern Syria, the source said.

Another Syrian source familiar with the meeting said Israel had again raised establishing a “humanitarian corridor” to send aid directly into Sweida, a Druze-majority province in Syria’s south that saw days of sectarian violence last month.

Syria had previously rejected this idea but Israel raised it again, the source said.

Hundreds of people were reported killed in the clashes in Sweida province between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said was mass killings of Druze by government forces.

The clashes last month underlined the challenges interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in stabilizing Syria and maintaining centralized rule, despite warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Iran believes the moment for “effective” nuclear talks with the United States has not yet arrived, its top diplomat said on Wednesday, adding that Tehran would not completely cut off cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

Tehran suspended negotiations with Washington, which were aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions, after the US and Israel struck its nuclear sites in June.

Since then, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been unable to access Iran‘s nuclear installations, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain essential.

“In my opinion, we have not yet reached the point of maturity where effective negotiations with the US can take place,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in remarks carried by state media.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned they will not hesitate to hit Iran again if it resumes enrichment of uranium, a possible pathway to developing nuclear weapons.

Iran, which denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons, vowed a forceful response to the threats.

European powers have threatened to activate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a “snapback” mechanism if Iran does not return to the negotiation table.

Araqchi said a meeting with Europeans could take place in the coming days, though “a basis for negotiations” has not been reached.

COOPERATION WITH IAEA

Last month, Iran‘s parliament passed legislation suspending cooperation with the IAEA and stipulating that any future inspections will need a green light from Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.

The legislation came after Tehran accused the IAEA of effectively paving the way for the Israel-US attacks with a report on May 31 that led the agency’s Board of Governors to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

Araqchi said in his remarks on Wednesday that Tehran was not cutting off all cooperation with the IAEA.

“The return of inspectors will be possible based on the parliament’s law, that is, with the approval of the Supreme National Security Council … So, it is not that we say we absolutely cut cooperation with the agency.”

Araqchi spoke two days after a foreign ministry spokesperson said Iran would continue talks with the IAEA and they would probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days.

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday played down Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu’s pointed condemnation of his decision to recognize a Palestinian state, saying he treated the leaders of other countries with respect.

“I don’t take these things personally; I engage with people diplomatically. He has had similar things to say about other leaders,” Albanese said during a media briefing.

Netanyahu’s personal attack on Albanese, describing him as a “weak politician,” has further strained relations between the two countries.

Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told national broadcaster ABC earlier on Wednesday that strength was “not measured by how many people you can blow up or how many children you can leave hungry.”

“Strength is much better measured by exactly what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has done, which is when there’s a decision that we know Israel won’t like, he goes straight to Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Ties have soured since Australia decided last week to conditionally recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September.

“History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews,” Netanyahu said in a post on X on Tuesday.

Albanese told reporters that he had informed Netanyahu about Australia’s decision to support a Palestinian state before his center-left government formally announced the plan.

“At that time, I gave Prime Minister Netanyahu a clear indication of my view and Australia’s view going forward but also a clear indication of the direction in which we were headed,” Albanese said.

“I gave him the opportunity to outline what political solution there was and gave him that opportunity.”

Israel this week revoked the visas of Australian diplomats to the Palestinian Authority after Albanese‘s Labor government canceled the visa of an Israeli lawmaker over remarks the Australian government considered controversial and inflammatory.

Israel has been facing increasing international pressure over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip due to the humanitarian situation in the enclave.

The offensive began nearly two years ago after Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.