Iran steps up repression as Tehran-Washington standoff continues

According to information obtained by Iran International, Ashkan Maleki and Mehrdad Mohammadinia, two protesters arrested during Iran’s national uprising in January 2026, are at imminent risk of execution.

Sources familiar with the case say both men could face the implementation of their death sentences in the coming days, raising concerns among rights advocates over the use of capital punishment against detainees arrested during anti-government protests.

Further details about the timing and circumstances surrounding the possible executions remain unclear.

Iran has not given "any commitment regarding the nuclear issue" to the United States, spokesman for the Iranian parliament's national security committee said on Sunday.

"The United States will decide whether it faces our diplomats or our missiles," Ebrahim Rezaei added.

Military action ordered by President Donald Trump gave US negotiators unprecedented leverage in talks with Iran, former deputy special presidential envoy Morgan Ortagus said in an interview with Fox News.

"The president has done something that no other president has done," Ortagus said, arguing that military attacks ordered by Trump had significantly set back Iran's nuclear program.

She accused Iran of failing to negotiate in good faith and described Iran's government as a "theocratic revolutionary regime" that does not respond to financial incentives.

"You're dealing with somebody who cannot be bought off. I don't think that financial incentives are going to motivate this regime because at their core, they are a theocratic revolutionary regime," she said.

"They are a regime of terrorists. They're the world's leading state sponsor of terror," she added.

Iran will apply its own amendments to the draft memorandum of understanding in talks with the United States, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News reported, citing an informed source.

"The exchange of texts is continuing, and Iran will naturally apply its own amendments to the text as well. Nothing has been finalized yet," the source was quoted as saying.

The source said amendments proposed by President Donald Trump did not mean they had been accepted by Iran, adding that Tehran was fully prepared if no agreement is reached.

Four National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) vessels carrying a combined 7 million barrels of crude oil appeared to have attempted to depart Iran over the past two to three days but were likely redirected back, shipping monitor TankerTrackers said on X Sunday.

US forces have redirected 118 commercial vessels and disabled five as part of the US blockade against Iran as of Sunday, US Central Command said in a post on X.

Bahrain’s Public Prosecution has launched investigations into an organization allegedly linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the country's state news agency BNA reported.

The report said the organization was formed by members of the dissolved Islamic Scholars Council and sought to facilitate Iranian interference in Bahrain’s internal affairs.

Investigations found the organization sought to control mosques and religious seminaries and use their platforms to promote allegiance to Iran’s supreme leader over Bahrain’s constitutional order, the report said.

The Public Prosecution has interrogated 41 suspects and ordered their detention pending investigation, the report added.

The report said orders had been issued to lift the confidentiality of the suspects’ bank accounts and freeze their accounts and assets.

Investigations also found funds had been collected to finance the organization, with part of the money transferred to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon to support and finance terrorist organizations there, the report added.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has submitted an official letter of resignation to the Office of the Supreme Leader, a source familiar with the matter told Iran International.

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Masoud Payahoo, who recorded a viral video of a lone protester sitting before security forces during Iran’s nationwide protests in January, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on accusations of alleged cooperation with Israel, Tehran-based Emtedad news website reported.

His lawyer, Hassan Aghakhani, said Payahoo had recorded the video spontaneously and had no intention of making it public, adding that he had shared it only with a limited number of friends in a private Instagram story.

The 10-year sentence was upheld by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court and referred for enforcement, Aghakhani said adding that Payahoo must now report to prison.

President Donald Trump’s edits to the US-Iran memorandum of understanding included somewhat significant changes related to the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of highly enriched uranium, CBS News reported, citing a source with knowledge of the negotiations.

The broad strokes of the memorandum include a 60-day cessation of violence, clauses calling for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and a framework to reopen negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, the report said.

The arrangement also involves the potential for waivers or sanctions relief that could allow Iran to access billions in frozen assets depending on the progress of diplomacy, the report added citing multiple sources.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that in a recent conversation with Donald Trump, he expressed support for a deal with Iran that accepts the US president's demand to open the Strait of Hormuz and begin negotiations on ending Tehran’s "nuclear ambitions and support for terrorism."

"I have confidence that at the end of the day, President Trump will not agree to a bad deal with Iran," Graham said in a post on X.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state media that talks with the United States could not be judged before they reached a clear outcome.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he had met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to urge a quick agreement between the United States and Iran.

"To all of them, I delivered the same message: it is essential that an agreement between the United States and Iran be reached quickly," Macron said in a post on X.

He said the priority must be a ceasefire and the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without conditions and in accordance with international law.

Macron said France was ready to help resume maritime traffic, support nuclear talks and contribute to establishing a regional security framework.

Four US service members and three contractors suffered minor injuries related to an Iranian ballistic missile strike on a Kuwaiti air base last week, CBS News reported, citing a US official.

All seven returned to duty within 24 hours, the official was cited as saying.

Iran launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait at 10:17 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, CENTCOM had previously said. The missile was intercepted by Kuwaiti forces.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday it had targeted an American base in retaliation for US strikes on the southern part of the country, though it did not specify where the base was.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran made a "big mistake" by attacking its neighbors in the Persian Gulf, leading regional allies to cooperate more closely with Washington on freezing Iranian funds.

"We had many very good allies who maybe weren't completely transparent with us on the money — Iranian money that was in their banking systems — all of a sudden became very compliant in terms of being willing to turn over accounts or help us freeze block accounts," Bessent told Fox News.

"And then the third part was the incredible blockade. I really think it's the economic blockade of funds and the physical blockade of the ships not going in or out of the Iranian ports," he added.

"Kharg Island is shut down. That's their big oil loading facilities, and that means that they're going to have to start taking down the wells," Bessent said.

President Donald Trump has toughened the terms of a potential framework for a deal to end the war in Iran and sent the proposed changes back to the country for consideration, the New York Times reported, citing three officials.

It was not immediately clear what changes had been made to the text of the agreement, the report said.

Trump has been concerned about parts of the potential deal that would include unfreezing funds for Iran, the report said, citing two officials.

Trump has also been frustrated by how long it has taken for Iran to respond to US proposals, one official said.

The proposals have been hammered out with the involvement of intermediaries, including from Pakistan, the report said.

One official added that Trump’s changes were potentially intended to speed up the process by putting pressure on Iran to accept the framework already sent to Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, for approval.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said President Donald Trump would ensure Iran kept its promises under any agreement and warned that any deal would be enforced militarily and economically.

"What I have confidence in is that President Trump's going to hold them to it," Bessent said in an interview with Fox News.

"That with the Iranians, we'll see. Their government, as I've said, we didn't have regime change, but we changed the regime," he said.

"The first layer was decapitated, second layer decapitated. We're on the third group so maybe they have seen what happened to the others and they see what President Trump is willing to do," he added.

"So if President Trump agrees to this deal, I would tell the Iranian leaders right now, he will enforce it. And both military and economically," Bessent said.

Iran is poised to fire far more long-range missiles at Israel and other Middle Eastern nations after rapidly digging out its buried arsenals, CNN reported, citing experts and satellite imagery.

Iran has used bulldozers and dump trucks to excavate entrances to its underground missile bases after they were blocked by US and Israeli bombing, the report said.

The report added that Iran has now unblocked 50 out of the 69 tunnel entrances struck by the US and Israel at 18 underground missile facilities.

Negotiations with the United States to end the war are underway but will yield no result, Esmail Kowsari, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, said.

"We have not reached a final agreement and we know they will not achieve any result," Kowsari said.

He said the nuclear issue had been removed from the negotiating table with the United States.

Kowsari added that Iran was negotiating on preventing a repeat of the war, payment of compensation, the withdrawal of US forces from the region and the lifting of the naval blockade.

"Many countries have accepted Iran's control over the Strait," Kowsari added.