Iran-US tensions Highlights: Iran FM Araghchi, US special envoy Witkoff to meet in Istanbul on Friday

Israel's Channel 12 reports that Israel will push the US to force Iran to abandon its nuclear programs as US and Iran prepare for talks. Those demands will be made to US special envoy Steve Witkoff when he meets Israeli officers ahead of his meeting with Iran later this week, per the report.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Monday that Israel's military is in a “period of improving readiness for war.”

“We must continue to draw lessons from the events of October 7, strengthen the defensive posture, and be prepared for a sequence of offensive actions across all theaters of war,” he said at a conference with senior officer, according to Times of Israel.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran is increasingly worried that a US strike could break its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back onto the streets, after the deadly crackdown on anti-government protests, Reuters reported citing six current and former government officials.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the public anger over last month's crackdown, which was the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has now reached a point where fear is no longer a deterrent.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: US Senator Rick Scott alleged that the Iranian regime is “terrified” and that the people are demanding freedom. “The United States must apply maximum pressure. The Ayatollah’s time is up,” Scott said in a post on X.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran and United States will hold nuclear talks on Friday, with some regional countries also expected to participate, Reuters reported citing sources.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi are expected to meet in Istanbul, Turkey. "Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, as well as some other countries, will attend the Istanbul meeting. There will be bilateral, trilateral and other meetings," Reuters quoted a regional diplomat as saying.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: The United Kingdom has sanctioned 10 Iranians, including the country's interior minister, over “brutality against protestors.”

UK added 11 new designations under its Iran sanctions regime, including minister Eskandar Momeni and the country’s law enforcement forces. The UK foreign ministry said those sanctioned had been involved in serious abuses linked to crackdowns on protests in Iran, which started December last year, Iran International reported.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: A top Jordanian diplomat has said that the country will not be a “battleground” or “launching pad” for any action against Iran.

“Jordan will not be a battleground in any regional conflict or a launching pad for any military action against Iran,” Ayman Safadi told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi over a phone call, AFP reported citing a statement by Jordan's foreign ministry.

Safadi said that Amman will not “permit any party to violate its airspace or threaten its security and the safety of its citizens.”

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: The head of Iran's parliamentary national security and foreign policy commission Ebrahim Azizi said he had written to foreign minister Syed Abbas Araghchi, urging retaliatory action against the European Union.

The EU had, last month, designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. In the letter, Azizi said that Iran should designate military attachés from EU member states as terrorists and expel them, specifically from countries he said had acted against Iran during recent conflicts or unrest, Iran International cited state media reported.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: The Kremlin has said that discussions regarding Russia potentially taking Iranian enriched uranium have been on the agenda for some time, Iran International reported.

When asked whether Moscow was discussing this possibility with Iran and US, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “Russia has been offering its services for quite a long time as a possible option that would lead to the removal of certain irritants for a number of countries.”

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran has no plans to transfer enriched nuclear material to any other country, Iran International cited a senior official as saying. The official said that talks with the US would not be focused on such an option.

“Iranian officials have no plan to transfer enriched nuclear materials to any country, and negotiations are not about such an issue,” state media cited Ali Bagheri, deputy for foreign policy at Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretariat, as saying.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the country is “ready for diplomacy”. However, Araghchi on state TV said that the US “must understand that diplomacy is not compatible with threats, intimidation or pressure”, Bloomberg reported.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has on Monday ordered the start of negotiations with the US “within the framework of the nuclear issue”, semi-official Fars news service reported.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, AFP cited Far news agency as reporting.

“President Pezeshkian has ordered the opening of talks with the United States…Iran and the United States will hold talks on the nuclear file,” Fars reported, without specifying a date for the negotiations.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Four foreigners of unknown nationalities have been arrested in Iran for "participation in riots" after last month's protests in the state, Iran's state TV reported.

"These individuals were apprehended during a raid on their hideout" in Tehran, said the national television said. However, the date of the arrests was not specified.

"During a search of one suspect's bag, four homemade stun grenades, used during the riots and unrest in the area, were discovered," it added, as quoted by AFP.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Russia said on Monday that it was still trying to de-escalate tensions around Iran. It also said that long ago, Kremlin had offered its services to process or store Iran's enriched uranium, reported Reuters.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that it hopes its diplomatic efforts to avert a war with the United States will yield results in coming days.

“We are reviewing and making decisions on the details of each diplomatic track, which we hope will yield results in the coming days,” Bloomberg quoted Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei's as saying.

He also said that several states in the middle east have acted as mediators and exchanges messages between Iran and the US.

Echoing Iran Supreme Leader's “regional war” threat, he said that any military conflict with the United States “won’t be confined to Iran’s geographic boundaries.”

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran denies receiving United States President Donald Trump 'ultimatum' on negotiations, reported news agency AFP.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran said on Monday it expects a framework for talks with the United States to be finalised in the coming days, even as President Donald Trump has threatened military action against Tehran.

Iran Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said “Countries of the region are acting as mediators in the exchange of messages,” but did not elaborate on the substance of any potential negotiations.

“Several points have been addressed, and we are reviewing and finalising the details of each stage of the diplomatic process, which we hope to conclude in the coming days. This relates to the method and the framework,” he said, as quoted by AFP.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told journalists that the ambassadors had begun to be summoned on Sunday and that process went into Monday as well.

“A series of actions were reviewed, various options are being prepared and were sent to the related decision-making bodies,” Baghaei said. "We think that in coming days, a decision will be made about a reciprocal action by the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the illegal, unreasonable and very wrong move by the EU.” (AP)

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran said on Monday that it has summoned all of the ambassadors of the European Union in the Islamic Republic after the EU listed Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terror group.

The summons to the ambassadors were issued on Sunday, said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei.

This comes after the European Union listed Revolutionary Guard as a terror group last week.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Amid the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran, even though both the countries have indicated that they are ready to resume talks, the US Navy has placed six destroyers, one aircraft carrier, and three littoral combat ships in the middle-east currently, reported Reuters.

Detainees in Iran are reportedly being forcibly injected with unknown substances in detention centres, Iran International reported, citing eyewitness testimonies.

Shiva Mahbobi, a former political prisoner and spokesperson for the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran, said that her organisation has been collecting statements that suggest that detainees, especially those injured in the recent protests, are not being given medical care, and in some cases, are being injected with unknown substances.

"One massacre happened on the street," Mahbobi told the Iranian news outlet. She added, "Another may be happening quietly in prisons and detention centres."

The United Arab Emirates' president, Mohamad bin Zayed, is reportedly cancelling a state visit to Japan amid the growing tensions in the Middle East over Iran.

The UAE cited “domestic circumstances” for cancelling the three-day visit that was supposed to begin on February 9, Japan's public broadcaster NHK said, citing unidentified Japanese officials.

It added that the move is believed to be connected to the military standoff between Iran and the US.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: The Oil prices are heading towards the steepest single-session decline in over six months as they dropped by almost 5 per cent on Monday amid the ongoing tensions between the United States and Iran.

Brent crude futures were down $3.30, or 4.8%, at $66.02 per barrel at 0528 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $3.23, or nearly 5%, to $61.98 per barrel, reported news agency Reuters.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: The European Union marked a symbolic shift in its approach to Iran's leadership earlier this week on Thursday by designating the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, following what turned out to be the Islamic Republic's bloodiest crackdown of protests since its establishment in 1979.

"By trying to hit the Revolutionary Guards... the Europeans actually shot themselves in the foot and once again made a decision against the interests of their people by blindly obeying the Americans," the speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, told his fellow lawmakers, who all wore Revolutionary Guards uniforms in support of the elite force.

Iran-US tensions LIVE updates: Iran has accused the United States and Israel of being behind the protests that began in late December over economic concerns and peaked on January 8 and 9. Authorities said the two countries turned peaceful demonstrations into what they called a “terrorist operation” and “riots”.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it has confirmed 6,563 deaths during the protests. This includes 6,170 protesters and 124 children. The group said the internet limits imposed on January 8 continue to restrict the flow of information from inside the country.