JUNE 7 – U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated this week that he did not want to start a war with Iran.
U.S. officials told their British counterparts that tensions with Iran had eased thanks to the U.S.’s policy to send extra troops into the region, during U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, a report from Iran’s Fars news said Iranian missiles had deterred a U.S. carrier from entering the Persian Gulf.
President Trump said he was prepared to talk with Tehran but could not rule out the possibility of a military conflict with the country. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran would continue with its missile program while Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Washington there could be no talks until sanctions were lifted.
- Talks between the U.S and Iran look more likely as Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed he would be visiting Iran on June 12 to help ease tensions between the two states. Meanwhile, reports of successful backdoor negotiations between the U.S. and Iran-backed Hezbollah indicate a possible way forward for Washington and Tehran.
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- Students from Iran, Russia and China are being used to steal military and high-tech secrets from research centers and schools, an official working for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. A significant portion of students involved may be from the nonimmigrant student population currently in the United States.
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- Iranian youth turn to drugs because the county’s strict moral framework makes it very difficult for the country to implement acceptable forms of leisure activity. One member of Iran’s parliament suggested allocating more of the government’s budget on sports facilities.
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- The presence of women at sports stadiums encourages good manners and civil behavior among male spectators, the president of the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran said. The president’s comment contradicts the views of other senior officials in Iran who have said that women in stadiums prompt men to misbehave.
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