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Iran, Russia Conduct Naval Drills, High-Level Talks as Tehran Seeks Support Ahead of Nuclear Talks With the West
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 and Russia launched a joint naval drill in the Caspian Sea this week, signaling closer military ties just days before Tehran resumes talks with the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in a bid to prevent the reinstatement of UN sanctions.
The joint maritime rescue and security drill, dubbed CASAREX 2025, marks a show of force and cooperation between Iranian and Russian forces, coming just weeks after Israel — with support from the United States — launched an airstrike campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The three-day exercise, which began Monday, includes participation from the Iranian Navy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, Iran’s Law Enforcement Command, and the Russian Navy, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
On Friday, Iran is expected to resume nuclear talks with Germany, France, and Britain — collectively known as the E3 — after the trio threatened to reinstate UN sanctions on Tehran by activating the “snapback” clause of the 2015 nuclear deal if no new agreement is reached by the end of August.
Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and several world powers, from which the US withdrew in 2018, imposed temporary restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Iran has warned it will take action if sanctions over its nuclear program are reinstated, without specifying what those measures might be.
“The snapback mechanism is meaningless, unjustifiable, unethical, and illegal,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said during a press conference.
Baghaei also reaffirmed that the Islamist regime has “no plans to hold talks with the US in the current situation.”
Following the 12-day war with Israel, Iran has sought to rebuild its damaged nuclear sites and strengthen its military capabilities by relying on support from Russia and China amid growing international pressure.
On Tuesday, Tehran held talks with Russia and China to bolster their alliance as sanctions threats mount and nuclear negotiations approach.
“We are in constant consultation with these two countries to prevent activation of the snapback or to mitigate its consequences,” Baghaei said during a Monday press briefing. “We have aligned positions and good relations.”
In a Fox News interview aired Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reaffirmed that Iran will not abandon its uranium enrichment program, despite recent Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.
“We cannot give up enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the top Iranian diplomat said. “Our enrichment is so dear to us.”
Last week, Araghchi met with Russian and Chinese officials at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security forum, where he called for closer strategic coordination and collective resistance to counter mounting pressure from the West.
China, a key diplomatic and economic backer of Tehran, has moved to deepen ties in recent years — signing a 25-year cooperation agreement, holding joint naval drills, and continuing to purchase Iranian oil despite US sanctions.
Russia has also expanded its ties with Iran to counter Western influence in the Middle East and mitigate the impact of US sanctions. For example, Russia pledged earlier this year to fund the construction of new nuclear power plants in Iran as part of a broader energy partnership that also includes a major gas deal between the two countries.
However, both China and Russia largely held back more concrete and robust support for Iran during the recent conflict with Israel, opting for cautious diplomacy rather than direct backing.
The post Iran, Russia Conduct Naval Drills, High-Level Talks as Tehran Seeks Support Ahead of Nuclear Talks With the West first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.