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Esmaili made the remarks in a joint press conference with the Iraqi Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Hassan Nazim on Sunday night in Tehran.

"In the talks with the Iraqi delegation, we tried to increase the level of interaction in various fields of culture and art," the Iranian minister stressed, adding that currently,there is a good level of mutual understanding between the two sides.

He also expressed hope that the visit of the Iraqi minister of culture will lead to boosting cultural interactions between Tehran and Baghdad.

The Iraqi minister of culture, for his part, assessed Iran-Iraq cultural ties as favorable.

He expressed his country's willingness on expanding relations and cooperation with the Iranian side, adding thatBaghdad will host the Iranian cinema film week.

Nazim said that Iran and Iraq have discussed having a more prominent presence in the joint book fairs of the two countries and that Baghdad is readyfor any cooperation in this field.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iraqi minister stated that the Iraqi government is determined to provide more facilities to the Iranian pilgrims during the Arbaeen march.

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Iran, Iraq to expand cultural ties, cooperation - Mehr News Agency - English Version

Saudi Arabia is seeing some progress on dialogue with its longtime adversary Iran, but not enough, the kingdom's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told CNBC on Tuesday. In the meantime, the minister says it is eager to improve the two countries' relationship.

"In Saudi Arabia, and I think it's the same in the other GCC states, we are very much focused you know, Vision 2030 and other elements on delivering a vision of the future that is built on hope, that is built on prosperity, that is built on development, that is built on cooperation," Prince Faisal told CNBC's Hadley Gamble during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"And this is a message that, as I say, we in Saudi Arabia but also the other GCC states who all have their individual visions for the future which are all very much in that same vein, are trying to send to our region, including to our neighbors in Iran."

"Our hands are stretched out. We are trying to send the message that going into a new era of cooperation in the region can deliver benefits for all of us."

Saudi Arabia has long named Iran as the biggest threat to stability in the wider Middle East, citing its nuclear program and support for militant proxy groups from Lebanon and Iraq to Yemen, and the two countries severed diplomatic ties in 2016. Tehran insists that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.

That more peaceful future "does need a decision," Prince Faisal said. "It needs a decision in Iran to sign onto that vision of a much more prosperous, cooperative future."

The minister said that in terms of dialogue with Iran, GCC states "have made some progress, but not enough."

"We continue to encourage our neighbors in Iran to lean into what can be a very, very important sea-change in our region."

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi gestures as he speaks at Tehran's Friday prayer on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in Tehran, Iran, February 11, 2022.

Wana News Agency | via Reuters

Saudi Arabia, along with its close ally the United Arab Emirates, have expressed criticism and skepticism over the Joe Biden administration's pursuit of the revival of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

If a deal is reached, which previously lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs to its nuclear program, many regional analysts believe Saudi Arabia and its allies will have little option but to accept Iran's reentry into the international community.

"Now of course the JCPOA, if it, happens will be potentially a good thing if its a good deal," Prince Faisal added. "But for us, it is most important that we address the holistic issues the nuclear nonproliferation, regional activity and that can be done, but it needs a sincere desire to look to the future rather than the past."

Earlier this year, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that his country was ready for more talks with Saudi Arabia. "Iran is ready to continue these negotiations until reaching an outcome, provided that the Saudis are willing to continue the negotiations in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and respect," semi-official Iranian news agency Fars quoted Raisi as saying in a call with Iraq's prime minister in February.

Leaders of Iraq, a country where the Saudi-Iran rivalry often violently plays out, have hosted several rounds of direct talks between Saudi and Iranian diplomats over the last year. Both countries have expressed cautious optimism about the discussions.

Saudi defence ministry spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Malik displays on a screen drones which the Saudi government says attacked an Aramco oil facility, during a news conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia September 18, 2019.

Hamad I Mohammed | Reuters

Gulf states are also increasingly skeptical of the U.S.'s security commitment to the region, and could view reconciliation with Iran as a way to hedge against future threats from the country. In recent years Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been the targets of numerous drone and missile strikes from Yemen, which U.S. officials say were in many cases either aided or directed by Iran. Tehran denies the accusations.

Iran and the kingdom are on opposing sides of the war in Yemen, which became one of the world's worst man-made humanitarian disasters after Saudi Arabia launched a bombing offensive against Yemen's Houthi rebels in 2015.

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Saudi foreign minister says the kingdom's hands are 'stretched out' to Iran - CNBC

Israel fears that Iran could seek to attack Israelis abroad to avenge a senior Iranian military commander who was assassinated in Tehran, and is set to issue recommendations against travel to some destinations that border the Islamic Republic, Channel 12 News reported Thursday.

The concerns came in the wake of leaks tying Israel to the slaying of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Colonel Sayyad Khodai who was killed on Sunday by a gunman on the back of a motorcycle as he sat in his car outside his home. The New York Times cited sources as saying Israel told the US it had carried out the hit.

Israel fears the developments will increase Irans motivation to strike Israelis abroad.

Senior government and defense establishment figures held a series of consultation meetings in recent days on the matter and will apparently make a decision soon to reiterate travel advisories against traveling to countries neighboring Iran, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, and possibly Turkey.

The government doesnt intend to issue travel warnings, but rather to stress existing instructions to be cautious, the report said.

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An Israeli official told the station there are currently no specific intelligence warnings of attacks. However, the source said that Israelis would be advised to be particularly cautious when visiting Azerbaijan and to avoid visiting the UAE or Bahrain unless it is essential due to the presence of terror infrastructures in those countries.

Illustrative image: A demonstrator holds an anti-Israeli placard at a pro-Palestinians gathering in Tehran, Iran, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

According to the report, Israel was surprised at the leak which is believed to have come from a US source.

There were lots of phone calls today between Israel and the US over the leak, the report said, noting that the two sides have now put the incident behind them.

However, the director-general of Israels Foreign Ministry said the US must provide answers regarding the New York Times report.

I leave the explanations for our talks with the Americans, Alon Ushpiz told the Kan public broadcaster.

MK Ram Ben Barak, who heads the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said during an interview Thursday morning on Israels 103FM radio station that the incident mainly harms trust.

We have very many close relationships and a lot of cooperation which is all dependent on trust, and when it is violated in some way then it damages future cooperation, he added. I hope the Americans investigate the leak and figure out where it came from and why it occurred.

The Revolutionary Guards denounced Khodais killing as a terrorist act, blaming it on elements of global arrogance in reference to the US and its allies, including Israel.

The son of Irans Revolutionary Guard Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei mourns over his flag-draped coffin during his funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (AP/Vahid Salemi)

The spokesman for the joint chiefs of staff of the Iranian armed forces, General Abolfazl Shekarchi, said on Monday that an investigation had been opened into the circumstances surrounding Khodais murder.

An unnamed intelligence official told The New York Times on Wednesday that Israeli officials had passed along information about the killing of Khodaei, who was shot dead outside his Tehran home on Sunday.

The report did not specify which country the intelligence official represented, but according to Ynet, the Israeli security establishment believes the source was American and is furious about the leak. Israeli officials told the Hebrew news site that they are demanding answers from their American counterparts, as the New York Times report places responsibility for the killing solely on Israel and absolves the US of having played any role.

According to the Times report, Israeli officials claimed Khodaei was deputy head of the so-called Unit 840, a shadowy division within the IRGCs expeditionary Quds Force that carries out kidnappings and assassinations of figures outside of Iran, including against Israelis. Khodaei was specifically in charge of Unit 840s Middle East operations, but he had been involved in attempted terror attacks against Israelis, Europeans, and American civilians and government officials in Colombia, Kenya, Ethiopia, the UAE and Cyprus, in the last two years alone.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that among the targets Khodaei was planning to kill, was French Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy arrives at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on May 21, 2019 for a meeting with the French President and other authors and philosophers who signed the tribune Europe at risk. (Ludovic Marin / AFP)

His killing was meant to warn Iran that the group should stop its activities, the intelligence official quoted by the Times said.

Israel has made no official comments on the incident and has reportedly raised the security alert level at its embassies and consulates around the world, fearing a retaliatory Iranian attack.

Khodaeis assassination was the most high-profile killing inside Iran since the November 2020 killing of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

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Israel said to fear Iran will target Israelis abroad in bid to avenge slain officer - The Times of Israel

Iran's state TV is reporting that a senior member of the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard has been killed outside his home in Tehran by gunmen on a motorbike

ByThe Associated Press

May 22, 2022, 6:45 PM

2 min read

TEHRAN, Iran -- A senior member of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard was killed outside his home in Tehran on Sunday by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike, state TV reported.

Although the Guard gave only scant detail about the attack that occurred in broad daylight in the heart of Iran's capital, the group blamed the killing on global arrogance, typically code for the United States and Israel.

That accusation, as well as the style of the brazen killing, raised the possibility of a link with other motorbike slayings previously attributed to Israel in Iran, such as those targeting the country's nuclear scientists. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The two assailants shot Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei five times in his unarmored Iranian-made Kia Pride, state media said, right off a highly secure street home to Iran's parliament.

Reports identified Khodaei only as a defender of the shrine, a reference to Iranians who fight against the extremist Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq within the Guards elite Quds force that oversees foreign operations.

Little information was publicly available about Khodaei, as Quds officers tend to be shadowy figures carrying out secretive military missions supporting Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, and other militias in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

The Tehran prosecutor arrived at the crime scene within hours of the killing to investigate and demanded police urgently arrest the perpetrators. The probes speed suggested Khodaei's prominence in the murky structure of the Guards overseas operations.

Those operations have come under repeated Israeli air attack in Syria. An Israeli strike near the Syrian capital of Damascus killed two Guard members in March, prompting Iran to retaliate by firing a missile barrage into northern Iraq.

Security forces were pursuing the suspected assailants, state TV reported, without offering further details or giving a motive for the killing.

Around the same time, state-run media said the Revolutionary Guard's security forces had uncovered and arrested members of an Israeli intelligence network operating in the country, without elaborating on whether they had any connection to Khodaei's slaying.

See original here:
Iran Revolutionary Guard colonel is shot dead in Tehran

Unidentified gunmen on a motorbike have killed a senior member of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guard outside his home in Tehran.

The corps gave only scant detail about the killing, which occurred in broad daylight in the heart of the Iranian capital, but blamed it on global arrogance typically code for the US and Israel.

The accusation and the style of the attack raised the possibility of a link with other motorbike killings previously attributed to Israel, such as those targeting the countrys nuclear scientists.

Two assailants shot Col Hassan Sayad Khodayari five times in his unarmoured Iranian-made vehicle just off a highly secure street that is home to Irans parliament, state media said.

Reports identified Khodayari only as a defender of the shrine, a reference to fighters against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq from the Revolutionary Guards elite Quds force that oversees foreign operations.

Little information was publicly available about Khodayari, but Quds officers tend to carry out secretive military missions supporting Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and political party, and militias in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

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The Tehran prosecutor arrived at the crime scene within hours to investigate and demanded police urgently arrest the perpetrators. The speed of the developments suggests Khodayari may have been a prominent Quds figure.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. State TV reported that security forces were pursuing the suspected assailants without offering further details or giving a motive for the killing.

State-run media also said around the same time that the Revolutionary Guards security forces had uncovered and arrested members of an Israeli intelligence network operating in the country.

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Iran: Revolutionary Guard colonel killed by motorbike gunmen in Tehran ...