Talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal were put on hold this week following Tehran’s decision to step back from the negotiations while Iran’s new government is put into place.
Incoming president Ebrahim Raisi is set to take up his position on Aug. 5 after he has selected members for his cabinet. The move could make talks between Washington and a new, hardline Iranian government more difficult.
US prosecutors charged four Iranians accused of being spies for Iran, with the alleged attempted kidnapping of Iranian human rights campaigner Masih Alinejad. The defendants had planned to take Ms. Alinejad back to Iran, where her fate would have been uncertain, a US attorney said.
Ms. Alinejad is a vocal opponent of the Iranian government’s mandatory hijab laws, and is a regular commentator for Western news outlets on the state of human rights in Iran. Speaking to Reuters, Ms. Alinejad said she had angered the regime with her views and the attempted kidnapping was a retaliation for her activism.
Eight Iranian dissidents announced they would be visiting Israel next week, in a show of solidarity following ongoing attacks by Iran-backed forces stationed in Palestine. The trip, which is the latest in a series of landmark visits to Israel by Iranians, has been organized by US-based opposition group the Institute for Voices of Liberty (iVOL).
The delegation will include Bijan R. Kian, a director for the group, and former senior US government officials, including Victoria Coates, Ellie Cohanim, Len Khodorkovsky, and Adam Lovinger.
And cyber security company Proofpoint, said Iranian hackers posing as academics at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) had engaged in an online espionage campaign which targeted Middle east experts.
The campaign was carried out by Iranian hacking group Charming Kitten, which experts believe carries out intelligence activities on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. Proofpoint said the group had tried to access information about foreign policy, including the movements of Iranian dissidents.
