Iran's foreign minister apologized Sunday for recorded comments that were leaked to the public last week that offered a blunt appraisal of the country's power struggles, sparking a political firestorm in Iran less than two months before presidential elections and apparently drawing the ire of Iran's supreme leader. The recordings of Mohammad Javad Zarif included frank comments about the powerful late Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Iraq last year, as well as criticism of his polices in Syria and his relations with Russia. "I hope that the great people of Iran and all the lovers of General (Soleimani) and especially the great family of Soleimani, will forgive me," Zarif said in an Instagram post. In a speech broadcast later Sunday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to lambast Zarif for departing from the official line, although he didn't call him out by name. "It's a big mistake that must not be made by an official of the Islamic Republic," Khamenei said in veiled reference to the leaked comments.

An Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic's disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said. Iran's foreign minister alleged the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh bore "serious indications" of an Israeli role, but did not elaborate. Israel, long suspected of killing several Iranian nuclear scientists a decade ago, declined to immediately comment. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once told the public to "remember that name" when talking about Fakhrizadeh. The killing risks further raising tensions across the Mideast, nearly a year after Iran and the U.S. stood on the brink of war when an American drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.

On June 30, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's address to the UN Security Council calling for an arms embargo on Iran to be extended was expected to dominate the international news agenda. However, Iran's judiciary stole the morning's headlines by issuing an arrest warrant for Donald Trump the day before. Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on Monday that Trump, along with more than 30 others accused of involvement in the January 3 drone attack that killed Iran's top general, Qassem Soleimani, face "murder and terrorism charges". The prosecutor added that Tehran asked Interpol for help in detaining the US president. The same day, the US special envoy for Iran, Brian Hook, denounced the warrant as a "propaganda stunt" at a press conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Iran is not ruling out negotiations with the United States even after an American drone strike that killed a top Iranian general, the country's foreign minister said in an interview released Saturday. Mohammed Javad Zarif told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine that he would "never rule out the possibility that people will change their approach and recognize the realities," in an interview conducted Friday in Tehran. There has been growing tension between Washington and Tehran since in 2018, when President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran. The U.S. has since reimposed tough sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. But Zarif suggested Iran was still willing to talk, though reiterated his country's previous demand that first the U.S. would have to lift sanctions.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo scoffed Tuesday at a suggestion that Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani was on a diplomatic mission to Baghdad when a U.S. drone strike killed him, insisting that the story is "fundamentally false" and "propaganda." "Anybody here believe that?" Pompeo asked reporters when the claim was brought up during a Tuesday press briefing. "We know that wasn't true." The notion that Soleimani was on some sort of peace mission was first floated by Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who reportedly said at a Sunday session he was scheduled to meet with Soleimani and discuss a message from Saudi Arabia regarding possible agreements in the region. Pompeo addressed the claim that Soleimani was supposed to work on a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, stating that he spoke to Saudi officials about this.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump invited Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the White House last month at the height of tensions between the two countries, The New Yorker magazine reported. The invitation, extended by Sen. Rand Paul with permission from the president, was turned down for now, The New Yorker reported Friday. Zarif said it was up to Tehran to decide on accepting it. Neither the White House nor the State Department responded to requests for comment on the report, which quoted U.S. and Iranian sources and what the magazine called a well-placed diplomat. Zarif told the magazine he would not want a White House meeting that yielded just a photo op and a two page statement afterwards, The New Yorker said.

TEHRAN - Iran said Tuesday it will further free itself from the 2015 nuclear deal in defiance of new American sanctions as U.S. President Donald Trump warned the Islamic republic of "overwhelming" retaliation for any attacks. Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have spiraled since last year when Trump withdrew the United States from the deal under which Tehran was to curb its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. The two arch-rivals have been locked in an escalating war of words since Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance drone in what it said was its own airspace, a claim the US vehemently denies. On Monday, Washington stepped up pressure by blacklisting Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top military chiefs, saying it would also sanction Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif later in the week. Tehran was defiant on Tuesday, saying the new US sanctions against Iran showed Washington was "lying" about an offer of talks.