US Vice President JD Vance met Qatar’s prime minister on Friday for talks that included negotiations involving the Islamic Republic, highlighting Doha’s continued role as a key intermediary in the crisis. The meeting came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was awaiting Tehran’s response to a proposed peace plan and indicated that a serious reply could open the door to real negotiations. Even as diplomacy moved forward, the military picture remained fragile. Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, citing an unnamed military source, said clashes between Iranian and US forces in the Persian Gulf had stopped for now after an exchange of fire. The same source warned that any renewed US move into the Gulf or interference with Iranian vessels could trigger another Iranian response, suggesting the pause may be temporary rather than durable. The threat of escalation was reinforced by new statements over maritime pressure and strategic waterways. Lawmaker Ali Khazarian said future US effort...
An Iranian media outlet has portrayed recent debate in Washington as evidence that information tied to Iran-related diplomacy is being turned into a tool for financial gain inside the United States. In a report published by Iran’s Nour News, the outlet argues that news about negotiations involving Iran has become part of a broader pattern in which political power, privileged information and private profit increasingly overlap in U.S. politics. According to Nour News, the issue was sharpened by recent remarks from former U.S. President Barack Obama, who the Iranian outlet said warned against the use of presidential authority for personal financial benefit. The report says Obama stressed that a president should not be able to direct the attorney general for private purposes or simultaneously pursue business dealings involving foreign governments. Nour News presented those remarks as part of a broader warning about what it described as the dangerous intersection of political power and fin...