https://www.scmp.com/rss/524503/feed The latest news and updates on Esmaeil Baqaei who serves as the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman, a prominent role where he articulates Iran’s foreign policy positions. He frequently condemns perceived Israeli and US aggression, advocating for accountability on the international stage. Baqaei consistently addresses Iran’s nuclear programme, asserting its peaceful nature and rejecting what he terms "excessive demands" in negotiations. His responsibilities include engaging in diplomatic... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran’s foreign ⁠ministry ⁠said in a statement on Tuesday that the United States had violated the ceasefire ‌with strikes in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. US forces attacked missile sites in southern Iran and boats trying to lay mines on Monday, US Central Command said, imperilling a fragile ceasefire and casting new doubt on a deal to end the Middle East war. “The United States ‌committed a gross violation of ⁠the ceasefire in the Hormozgan region ⁠in the past 48 hours … Iran holds the US... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3354821/us-attacks-missile-sites-iran-amid-negotiations-end-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3354821/us-attacks-missile-sites-iran-amid-negotiations-end-war?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2026 01:07:30 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse ⁠US ⁠President Donald Trump ⁠said on Sunday that he has told his diplomatic representatives not ‌to rush into a deal with Iran on the war because “time is on our side”, less than a day ⁠after announcing that an agreement with ‌Tehran had been largely negotiated. “The Blockade ‌will remain in full force ⁠and ⁠effect until an agreement is ‌reached, certified, and signed. Both sides ‌must take their ‌time and get ‌it right,” Trump wrote ⁠on Truth Social. “There can be ⁠no mistakes! Our relationship... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3354647/iran-us-could-be-close-breakthrough-talks-draft-deal-end-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3354647/iran-us-could-be-close-breakthrough-talks-draft-deal-end-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 May 2026 15:39:18 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday voiced hope of progress on ending the war with Iran, with mediator Pakistan’s army chief poised for talks in Tehran. The role played by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan’s foreign relations, has taken on increased significance as US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed strikes. “I believe the Pakistanis will be travelling to Tehran... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3354435/us-voices-hope-iran-deal-progress-pakistan-army-chief-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3354435/us-voices-hope-iran-deal-progress-pakistan-army-chief-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 21:24:32 +0000 Khushboo Razdan,Orange Wang,Cao Jiaxuan Khushboo Razdan,Orange Wang,Cao Jiaxuan The United States and Iran did not reach a deal because Washington failed to win the other side’s trust, Tehran’s lead negotiator said on Sunday. In his first comments since the marathon round of talks in the Pakistani capital Islamabad broke up, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on social media: “We have the necessary good faith and will, but due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side. “The opposing side ultimately failed to gain the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349767/bad-news-vance-says-no-agreement-reached-after-marathon-talks-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349767/bad-news-vance-says-no-agreement-reached-after-marathon-talks-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 01:37:47 +0000 Shi Jiangtao Shi Jiangtao As US President Donald Trump’s Tuesday deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz approached, Pakistan put forward a fresh proposal for an immediate ceasefire on Monday, offering what one analyst described as “a critical opportunity” for talks. The plan was brokered through overnight contacts between Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, US officials including Vice-President J.D. Vance and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to Reuters. It called for an immediate halt to hostilities... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349189/pakistans-peace-plan-critical-opportunity-us-iran-talks-ahead-trump-deadline?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3349189/pakistans-peace-plan-critical-opportunity-us-iran-talks-ahead-trump-deadline?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:20:54 +0000 Liu Zhen Liu Zhen Iran has demanded explanations from two Gulf states equipped with Chinese-made Wing Loong II drones after one was reportedly shot down in the war with the United States and Israel. Both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are known to have the reconnaissance and precision strike drones in their arsenals. The drone was shot down over the city of Shiraz on Thursday, according to Esmail Baqaei, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry. Baqaei posted photos of drone wreckage on social... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349036/iran-demands-explanations-saudis-and-uae-after-chinese-made-drone-was-shot-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3349036/iran-demands-explanations-saudis-and-uae-after-chinese-made-drone-was-shot-down?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Apr 2026 09:51:34 +0000 Ushar Daniele Ushar Daniele The Iranian women’s national football team arrived in Malaysia on Wednesday after leaving Australia, where several members of the delegation had sought asylum, as a viral social media video fuelled unverified claims that some players might want to remain in the Southeast Asian country. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Kuala Lumpur-based governing body for Asian football, confirmed the team was currently staying at a hotel in the Malaysian capital while onward travel arrangements were... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346386/iranian-womens-football-team-lands-malaysia-video-fuels-fresh-asylum-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3346386/iranian-womens-football-team-lands-malaysia-video-fuels-fresh-asylum-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 10:59:49 +0000 Reuters Reuters Iran on Monday named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, signalling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old US-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above US$100 a barrel. Mojtaba, a cleric with influence inside Iran’s security forces and vast business networks under his father, had been viewed as a front runner in the lead-up to Sunday’s vote by the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics tasked with choosing Ali Khamenei’s successor. “By a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345907/tehran-indicates-khameneis-son-will-be-named-supreme-leader-israel-expands-iran-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345907/tehran-indicates-khameneis-son-will-be-named-supreme-leader-israel-expands-iran-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 18:39:11 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump briefly laid out ⁠his case for a possible attack on Iran in his State of the Union speech to Congress on Tuesday, saying he would not allow the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism to have a nuclear weapon. Even while assembling a massive military force in the Middle East, Trump has done little to explain to the American public why he might be leading the US into its most aggressive action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution. In his speech, Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344568/iran-rejects-big-lies-after-trump-lays-out-case-possible-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3344568/iran-rejects-big-lies-after-trump-lays-out-case-possible-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2026 07:07:48 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, even as Washington and Tehran ‍prepare to resume negotiations aimed at averting a new conflict. Oman facilitated talks between Iran and the US last week, which a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said had allowed Tehran to gauge Washington’s seriousness and showed enough consensus for diplomacy to continue. The talks came after Trump had positioned one aircraft carrier in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343117/trump-hints-sending-second-aircraft-carrier-us-and-iran-plan-next-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3343117/trump-hints-sending-second-aircraft-carrier-us-and-iran-plan-next-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Feb 2026 20:50:17 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, local media said, as his counterpart Donald Trump threatened “bad things” if no deal with the Islamic Republic was struck. Following the Iranian authorities’ deadly response to anti-government protests that peaked last month, the US president has threatened military action and ordered the dispatch of an aircraft carrier group to the Middle East. Trump has maintained he is hopeful that Washington... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342157/irans-president-pezeshkian-orders-nuclear-talks-us-trump-hopeful-deal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3342157/irans-president-pezeshkian-orders-nuclear-talks-us-trump-hopeful-deal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 19:18:03 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran does not plan to immediately resume nuclear talks with European nations after they reimposed sanctions, the foreign ministry said on Monday. Britain, France and Germany, signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, reimposed sanctions on September 28, triggering the return of UN sanctions under the so-called snapback mechanism. “We have no plans for negotiations at this stage,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, adding that Iran was examining the “consequences and implications” of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328031/iran-halts-nuclear-talks-after-uk-france-and-germany-reimpose-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3328031/iran-halts-nuclear-talks-after-uk-france-and-germany-reimpose-sanctions?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Oct 2025 11:43:45 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s top security body, met senior officials in Iraq on Monday, ahead of a visit to Lebanon, where the government plans to disarm the Tehran-backed group Hezbollah. Tehran has suffered a series of blows in its long-running rivalry with Israel, including during 12 days of open war between the two countries in June. Israel, briefly joined by the United States, struck Iranian nuclear facilities, while Israel has also devastated Hamas and Hezbollah since late 2023 – both... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3321504/iran-security-chief-meets-officials-iraq-lebanon-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3321504/iran-security-chief-meets-officials-iraq-lebanon-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Aug 2025 20:04:59 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran said on Monday it would hold the United States accountable for attacks on its nuclear sites in any future negotiations, while ruling out direct talks with Washington. The United States struck key Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, briefly joining a war launched by Israel that had derailed talks on Tehran’s atomic programme. “In any potential negotiation... the issue of holding the United States accountable and demanding compensation for committing military aggression against Iran’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3320712/iran-says-future-us-nuclear-talks-must-include-compensation-attacks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3320712/iran-says-future-us-nuclear-talks-must-include-compensation-attacks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Aug 2025 12:02:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran on Wednesday suspended its cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, days after a ceasefire in a war that saw Israeli and US strikes on nuclear sites in the Islamic republic. The unprecedented war, which broke out on June 13 and lasted for 12 days, has intensified tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favour of the bill to suspend cooperation with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3316649/iran-suspends-cooperation-un-nuclear-watchdog-iaea?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3316649/iran-suspends-cooperation-un-nuclear-watchdog-iaea?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Jul 2025 08:46:18 +0000