Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad met with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow on April 24, 2025. Photo: Screenshot

Russia has pledged to fund the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Iran as part of a broader energy agreement that also includes a major gas deal between the two countries, as relations between Moscow and Tehran continue to deepen.

On Friday, Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad traveled to Moscow to meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Tsivilev, as part of the 18th Joint Economic Cooperation Commission.

Paknejad announced that Moscow and Tehran are strengthening their bilateral ties in what he described as “peaceful” nuclear energy, with the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Iran, to be financed through Russian funding.

“Iran and Russia will continue their cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the construction of new nuclear energy facilities and the completion of phases two and three of the Bushehr power plant using Moscow’s credit line,” the Iranian minister said during the closing ceremony of the commission.

According to Iranian state media, the two countries also agreed to a 55 billion cubic meters gas transfer deal.

Despite holding the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, Iran continues to import gas due to severe under-investment in its energy sector, caused by mounting US sanctions targeting Tehran’s oil industry under President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

As part of the energy agreement, Paknejad also announced that Iran will sign a $4 billion deal with Russian companies to develop seven oil fields across the country.

“Multilateral cooperation between Iran and Russia through membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and OPEC+ has led to the provision of common interests, peace, stability, and international security, and I am confident that this cooperation will deepen,” the Iranian minister said during his speech.

Tehran became a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) — a Eurasian security and political group — in 2023 and also joined the BRICS group in 2024 — a bloc of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa that positions itself as an alternative to economic institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

These energy deals and expanding nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran come as the Iranian regime prepares for a third round of nuclear talks with the US in Oman this weekend.

Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military action, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb Iran’s nuclear activities.

However, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that any deal with Iran must require the complete dismantling of its “nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.” Witkoff’s comments came after he received criticism for suggesting the Islamic Republic would be allowed to maintain its nuclear program in a limited capacity.

With both Iran and Russia under Western sanctions and Russia’s oil and gas exports to Europe sharply reduced since the start of the war in Ukraine, the two nations have increasingly strengthened their bilateral ties.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law officially ratifying a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Tehran, further deepening their military cooperation.

As an increasingly close partner of Iran, Moscow’s diplomatic role in the ongoing US-Iran nuclear talks could be significant in facilitating a potential agreement between the two adversaries. Russia can leverage its position as a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and a signatory to a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that imposed temporary limits on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Russia could reportedly be considered a potential destination for Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and a possible mediator in any future nuclear deal, particularly in the event of breaches to the agreement.

This option would allow Russia to “return the handed-over stockpile of highly enriched uranium to Tehran” if Washington were to violate the deal, ensuring that Iran would not be penalized for American non-compliance.

Some experts and lawmakers in the US have expressed concern that a deal could allow Iran to maintain a vast nuclear program while enjoying the benefits of sanctions relief.

On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi expressed his willingness to engage in talks with European powers regarding Tehran’s nuclear program, indicating that the country is keeping its options open. In response, France also signaled that European nations were open to dialogue if Iran showed it was seriously engaged.

Despite Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapon development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”

The post Russia to Fund New Nuclear Power Plant in Iran as Bilateral Ties Deepen Amid US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Noa Argamani attends the TIME100 gala, celebrating the magazine’s annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, in New York City, US, April 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

Noa Argamani urged the public on Thursday night to visit the Nova Festival exhibit commemorating the Hamas terrorist attack at the music event on Oct. 7, 2o23, while also calling for the release of the remaining hostages being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The 27-year-old, who is featured in the 2025 TIME100 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, attended the 19th annual TIME100 Gala on Thursday night in New York City. During a red carpet interview with TIME, she spoke about her emotional visit to the exhibit “Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” months earlier when it was open in New York City. The large-scale traveling exhibit about the Nova attack recently opened in Toronto after successful runs in Tel Aviv, New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.

Argamani was abducted by Hamas terrorists during their deadly rampage at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im, Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023. She was held captive in Gaza for 245 days until she was rescued by the Israel Defense Forces during a heroic operation in June 2024.

“Because I was at the Nova music festival and a lot of my friends were murdered, it was really difficult for me to come [to the exhibit] and see what happened to them,” Argamani said. “Because I carry a lot. I know my story and the story of my friends who have been murdered in captivity. It was too much to handle. Too much to carry.”

Nevertheless, she encouraged every person to visit the exhibit, before mentioning another major music event – the recent Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. She said about the exhibit: “I think it’s something everybody should [visit] because, as you saw what happened now in Coachella, these kids, I’m part of them, I come to the Nova music festival just to have fun, to dance, to enjoy my life … it’s definitely a pure situation. A party for peace and love.”

During the second weekend of Coachella earlier this month, the Irish rap trio Kneecap performed and at the end of their set, they projected three screens that featured anti-Israel messages. “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” said one such message, followed by, “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.” A third screen displayed the text: “F–k Israel. Free Palestine.” Also during the performance, band member Mo Chara talked about Palestinians being “bombed from the … skies with nowhere to go.” The band additionally led the audience to chant, “Free, free Palestine.”

On Thursday night, Argamani suggested that music festivals, like Coachella and Nova, should not get political. She said, “It’s important for people to come visit the exhibition and see that we just want to have fun. We’re not armed, we’re not political. We don’t get right [wing] or left [wing], we all just want to have fun. That’s the main idea of those festivals.”

When asked how she is dealing with the trauma of the Oct. 7 attack and her captivity, Argamani said, “It’s really hard for me because my partner is still in captivity.” Argamani’s boyfriend, Avinatan Or, was also taken hostage at the Nova music festival by Hamas terrorists. He recently turned 32, his second birthday in captivity, and is one of 24 Hamas hostages whom Israel believes is still alive.

“I never saw him in captivity,” Argamani said about Or. “I asked about him everywhere I went, but they didn’t tell me nothing. I didn’t know if he’s alive or just kidnapped … I didn’t want to know the answer because it was too much for me.”

“But until Avinatan will come home, and all those 59 [remaining] hostages will come back, I will not heal,” she concluded. “I will push forward, and I will fight as much as I can so everybody will come back home.”

The post Rescued Hamas Hostage Noa Argamani References Coachella While Urging Public to Visit Nova Exhibit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas holds a leadership meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas falsely claimed in a speech on Wednesday that the first and second ancient Jewish temples were in Yemen, not Jerusalem.

“[Israel] is trying to change the historical and legal status of the Islamic and Christian holy places, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Abbas said while speaking at the 32nd Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council meeting in Ramallah. “[The Al-Aqsa Mosque] is the target of the most hideous plot by the occupation. They spread incitement for its destruction, and the building of a Jewish temple in its place.”

Abbas continued, making his central false claim: “In the Noble Quran – and I believe that also in other divine books – it says that the [First and Second] Temples were in Yemen,” he said. “People who like reading about religion can check it out.”

Abbas’s comments about Yemen were flagged by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which reported on and translated his remarks.

“[The Jews say:] ‘This is ours and that was ours, and this is where Solomon’s Temple was,’” Abbas added. “I am telling you, a large part of history is falsified. People who read the Quran know this.”

However, Abbas’s claims are contradicted by significant historical and archeological sources, which suggest two temples did stand in Jerusalem — one of which was destroyed in 586 BCE by the Babylonians and the second of which was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans.

Eric Cline, who is a professor of classical and ancient near Eastern studies and of anthropology at The George Washington University — as well as Director of the GWU Capitol Archaeological Institute — points out further problems with the claim there were never Jewish temples in Jerusalem:

The earliest Moslem rulers appear to have called the city Iliya, a variation on its Roman name of Aelia. Over the centuries the name gradually changed to Madinat Bayt al-Maqdis (“City of the Holy House”) or simply Bayt al-Maqdis (the “Holy House”), similar to the Hebrew designation of the Temple (and sometimes the city and indeed the whole country) as Beit ha-Miqdash (the “House of the Sanctuary”). As Professor Moshe Gil has pointed out, the Arabic name Bayt al-Maqdis “was applied to the Temple Mount, to the city [of Jerusalem] as a whole, and — frequently — to all of Palestine.” Eventually the name for Jerusalem was further shortened to al-Maqdis and then finally became simply al-Quds (“the Holy,” probably borrowed from or related to the similar Hebrew ha-Qodesh), by which name the city is still known in the Arabic-speaking world today.

Nonetheless, Abbas is not the first Palestinian leader to have claimed that Jews do not have a historical connection to Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular, Cline points out. During the failed Camp David peace summit in 2000, former PLO President Yasser Arafat reportedly said, “The Temple didn’t exist in Jerusalem, it existed in Nablus … There is nothing there [i.e., no trace of a temple on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism].” He then repeated the claim to the French President later in the year, saying, “But the ruins of the Temple don’t exist! Our studies show that these are actually Greek and Roman ruins.”

Then, in January 2001, Ekrima Sabri, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, was quoted in The Jerusalem Post as saying: “There are no historical artifacts that belong to the Jews on the Temple Mount.” He also reportedly said: “There is not [even] the smallest indication of the existence of a Jewish temple on this place [the Temple Mount] in the past. In the whole city, there is not a single stone indicating Jewish history.”

Experts have noted these claims have the aim of painting the Jewish presence in the land of Israel as illegitimate and not connected to history. However, the first recorded reference to the people of Israel is in the Merneptah Stele, which dates back to 1209 BCE, further undermining the point Abbas and others try to make.

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