TEHRAN, Nov. 17 — Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that no uranium enrichment is currently being carried out in the country, while stressing the country’s right to do so.

“At present, no uranium enrichment is being carried out in Iran as our enrichment facilities have come under attack,” he was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as saying on the sidelines of an international conference in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Iran’s right to uranium enrichment and peaceful use of nuclear energy is “undeniable” and should be recognized by the international community, including the United States, said the foreign minister.

Araghchi said that there are no undeclared nuclear and uranium enrichment facilities in Iran and that all Iranian nuclear facilities are under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Commenting on the possibility of resuming nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, he noted the U.S. government’s current approach was in no way indicative of its readiness for a fair negotiation on equal footing to safeguard mutual interests.

“What we have witnessed so far from the Americans has, in fact, been an effort to dictate completely maximal and excessive demands,” he said.

Iran and the United States had held five rounds of indirect, Oman-mediated talks on the nuclear issue and U.S. sanctions relief, and were preparing for a sixth round when Israel launched major airstrikes on June 13 on nuclear and military sites in Iran, killing senior commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. On June 22, U.S. forces struck the Iranian nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan. (Xinhua)

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 15  — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has reaffirmed that the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) Leaders’ Meeting will proceed as planned despite the United States’ decision not to participate.

Speaking in Kliptown, Johannesburg, on Friday, Ramaphosa said South Africa is ready to welcome world leaders and deliver a successful meeting.

“The summit will go on. We are not going to stop because they are not here,” he said, adding that most G20 leaders have confirmed their attendance.

Ramaphosa noted that U.S. President Donald Trump had withdrawn all U.S. representatives, citing allegations of ill-treatment of Afrikaners and “genocide.”

Stressing “boycott politics never work,” he said, “If you boycott an event or a process, you lose because the show will go on.” The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled for Nov. 22 and 23 in Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city and economic hub. (Xinhua)

TEHRAN, Nov. 15  — Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said on Saturday that its naval forces have seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker off the country’s southern Makran coast along the Gulf of Oman over unspecified “violations.”

The oil tanker, the Talara, was tracked and seized by the IRGC Navy’s rapid-reaction forces on Friday at 7:30 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) following an order from Iran’s judicial authorities and after its movements were monitored, according to a statement published by the IRGC’s official news outlet, Sepah News.

The statement said the ship was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemicals destined for Singapore. It added that after inspecting the vessel and reviewing its cargo and documents, IRGC naval forces confirmed it had “committed violations” by carrying “unauthorized” cargo.

It said the operation was carried out “to protect Iran’s national interests and resources.” A U.S. official said Friday that Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and diverted it into Iranian territorial waters, calling it the first such interdiction in months in the strategic waterway. (Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced a counternarcotics military operation called “Southern Spear” in the Western Hemisphere.

“I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR,” Hegseth said Thursday on X, noting that it will be led by the Joint Task Force Southern Spear in coordination with the U.S. Southern Command.

“President (Donald) Trump ordered action – and the Department of War is delivering,” Hegseth said. “This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.”

“The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it,” he added without revealing more details. Earlier on Thursday, the Pentagon replaced two long-standing bronze plaques at two of its entrances in Arlington, Virginia, with newly cast, 60-pound insignia reading “Department of War.”

Hegseth tightened the final screw on one of the plaques, according to a Pentagon release. “We love everything that the Department of Defense represented,” the defense secretary said.

“But this is a new era of the Department of War that is focused on winning wars … and making sure that we know exactly what the mission is and that the troops are sent there to succeed and win.” “And of course, the whole goal is to deter wars in the first place … to establish peace,” Hegseth added.

This week, Trump received briefings on potential military options inside Venezuela, though he has not approved any plan, CNN reported, citing four sources.

The network said Trump is still weighing the risks and benefits of expanding U.S. military action in the South American country.

In January, the Southern Command announced in a press release an operation also called “Operation Southern Spear” in the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility, which includes the land mass of Latin America south of Mexico, the waters adjacent to Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea.

It said the operation would utilize “long-dwell robotic surface vessels, small robotic interceptor boats, and vertical take-off and landing robotic air vessels” to help fight the alleged drug cartels.

It remains unclear how the newly announced mission relates to the version launched earlier this year. U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean has reached its largest scale in more than three decades, and aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is now deployed in the region. (Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 15  — Humanitarians are working to provide shelter support and have deployed rapid response teams after heavy rains on Friday flooded thousands of displaced families in Gaza, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The rains had a harsh impact on people across the Gaza Strip, with damage to personal belongings and thousands of displaced families left fully exposed to the harsh weather, increasing health and protection concerns, especially for older people, those with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, said OCHA.

Partners reported that proper flood prevention requires equipment that is not available in Gaza, including tools to drain water away from tents and to clear solid waste and rubble.

Millions of urgently needed shelter items remain stuck in Jordan, Egypt and Israel, awaiting approvals to enter Gaza, the office said.

OCHA said that since the Oct. 10 ceasefire, the Israeli authorities have rejected 23 requests from nine partners to bring into Gaza nearly 4,000 pallets of critical supplies, including tents, sealing and framing kits, bedding, kitchen sets and blankets.

Shelter partners said that the main barrier remains restrictive registration rules for non-governmental organizations. In all but two of the 23 rejections, the reason given was that the submitting organizations were not authorized to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza.

OCHA said that about 1,000 tents were distributed to families in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis on Thursday. Between Sunday and Wednesday, partners provided about 7,000 blankets to more than 1,800 households, some 15,000 tarpaulins to more than 3,700 households, and winter clothing to more than 500 households.

“The dire living conditions are also increasing people’s exposure to explosive ordnance, with children among those most at risk,” the humanitarian office said.

“Some people have been injured while collecting firewood; others are having to pitch tents near areas suspected of containing unexploded remnants simply because they have no safer options,” it said.

OCHA said that since the ceasefire, partners working on mine action have recorded more than 10 injuries from explosive hazards.

Such risk is further compounded by Gaza’s limited geographical size, which leaves little room to avoid areas suspected of contamination. Since the ceasefire, partners have responded to more than 70 requests for explosive hazard assessments, supported 32 inter-agency missions, and delivered risk education sessions to over 49,000 people across the Gaza Strip.

The UN Mine Action Service reported that it could do much more as soon as teams get access to detectors, spare parts and equipment needed to dispose of explosive hazards safely. (Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 15 — The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Abyei, a territory contested by Sudan and South Sudan, for another year through Nov. 15, 2026.

Resolution 2802 was adopted with 12 votes in favor and three abstentions from China, Pakistan and Russia. The resolution extends the mandate modification of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei to the same date.

The council first adjusted UNISFA’s mandate in December 2011 to include support for the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism between Sudan and South Sudan, which gained independence from the former in July 2011.

The resolution expresses the Security Council’s intent to consider further renewal of the mission based on “demonstrable progress” by Sudan and South Sudan, while reaffirming that any decision regarding the mission’s future will remain subject to the council’s determination.

The resolution urges the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to provide full support for the interim force’s mandate and deployment of personnel.

The force was established by the Security Council in June 2011 following a flare-up shortly before South Sudan’s independence. (Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 — The Trump administration released on Friday an executive order to eliminate reciprocal tariffs on some agricultural products to ease rising prices.

Coffee and tea; tropical fruits and fruit juices; cocoa and spices; bananas, oranges, and tomatoes; beef; and some fertilizers have been exempted from reciprocal tariffs, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.

The order took effect on Thursday. Duties already collected will be refunded. U.S. President Donald Trump has now determined that it is necessary and appropriate to further modify the scope of the reciprocal tariffs, given the substantial progress in reciprocal trade negotiations, current domestic demand for certain products, and current domestic capacity to produce certain products, according to the White House.

The tariff exemptions should lower prices, and they mostly apply to food that is “not competitive in this country,” like bananas, Trump told reporters on Friday.

The U.S. Consumer Price Index year-over-year growth was 3 percent for September 2025, slightly up from 2.9 percent in August 2025.

In particular, beef and veal prices in September increased by 14.7 percent year on year, with coffee prices up 18.9 percent. “President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people,” said U.S. Representative Don Beyer in a statement.

“After getting drubbed in recent elections because of voters’ fury that Trump has broken his promises to fix inflation, the White House is trying to cast this tariff retreat as a ‘pivot to affordability,'” said Beyer, who is pushing for legislation to rein in U.S. presidential powers on setting tariffs. (Xinhua)