FRANKFURT/TEHRAN: France, Germany and Britain have urged Iran to agree to a proposed relaunch of the agreement limiting its nuclear program, saying final texts of a deal have been readied but Iran “has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity.”
The three European governments said in a joint statement Saturday that Iran has instead raised “separate issues” and “continues to escalate its nuclear program way beyond any plausible civilian justification.”

LONDON: Three Americans who were detained by the Iranian government for over a year are suing their former captors, arguing that they are owed damages by the Tehran regime for the suffering and torture they endured while being imprisoned on baseless charges of espionage.

The trio — Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal — were hiking on the Iranian border with Iraq in 2009 when they were seized.

Shourd and Bauer, who are both journalists and were formerly married, and Fattal are having their lawsuit overseen by federal judge Richard Leon in Washington.

RABAT: Dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested outside Morocco’s parliament Friday against the kingdom’s normalization of ties with Israel after the Jewish state recalled its top envoy from Rabat amid a probe, AFP correspondents said.
Around 100 people chanted slogans against the rapprochement between Morocco and Israel, criticizing its ambassador David Govrin and Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita.

BEIRUT: The US mediator handling negotiations over the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel expressed optimism on Friday that the talks, which stopped in April, will resume shortly and said that he was hopeful of reaching an agreement.

Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati during a three-hour stay in the country.

Earlier the US mediator crossed the Israeli-Lebanese border by land, entering Lebanon from Naqoura.

WASHINGTON: The US on Friday imposed sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and its minister, accusing them of being tied to a disruptive July cyberattack on Albania and engaging in other cyber activities against the United States and its allies.
The move comes after Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran on Wednesday for the same incident, ordering Iranian diplomats and embassy staff to leave within 24 hours.