Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian expresses hope at reaching a final nuclear agreement following a meeting in Tehran with European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
A newly released report showed that at least 333 people were executed in 2021, a 25-percent increase compared with 267 in 2020.
Iran has been engaged for a year in negotiations with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China directly, and the United States indirectly in the Austrian capital of Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.
The sides are discussing a "collateral" obstacle, namely Iran's demand to have the Revolutionary Guard removed from a US terror blacklist, the EU foreign policy chief said.
Israel hosted the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the US as signals mount that a 2015 agreement on Iran's nuclear programme will soon be restored.
US says it Is closer to wrapping up a deal with Iran to salvage Tehran's 2015 nuclear accord with world powers despite some unresolved issues that "can be bridged."
Amid the reshuffling of regional dynamics and the wider tug-of-war between the US and Russia, Tehran has reverted to its modus operandi of violence and chaos.
Complications have surfaced after Russia demanded guarantees that Western sanctions imposed on its economy would not affect its trade with Iran, analysts say.
Ankara and Tel Aviv have had ups and downs in their ties since the 1950s. But the two countries have been able to find common ground despite their differences.
The visit by International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi is seen as critical to clinching a return to the nuclear agreement, and comes parallel to negotiations in the Austrian capital.
"This must not be postponed any longer and cannot be postponed any longer. Now is the time to finally say yes to something that represents a good and reasonable solution," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says during a visit to Israel.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has said that an appropriate pathway is required in the areas of lifting sanctions, commitment guarantees from the US and accusations levelled against the nuclear programme.
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