A former British soldier, whose prison escape sparked a massive manhunt in 2023, has been found guilty of passing on sensitive information to the Iranian intelligence service.

Prosecutors said that Daniel Abed Khalife, 23, played a "cynical game" by claiming he wanted to be a double agent for Britain after he had delivered a large amount of restricted and classified material to Iran, including the names of special forces officers.

The verdict was delivered at London's Woolwich Crown Court on November 28.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood told jurors at the start of the trial that Khalife collected sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022.

Khalife stood trial charged with gathering information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iran, obtaining information likely to be useful for terrorism.

Khalife, who was expelled from the army after he was charged, was also accused of planting fake bombs in his military barracks. But the court cleared him of a charge of carrying out a bomb hoax.

Khalife snuck out of a London prison in September 2023 while awaiting trial and spent three days on the run.

With reporting by AP

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says his country may change its nuclear doctrine and develop a bomb if UN sanctions are reimposed on Tehran.

Speaking to reporters on November 28 in Lisbon, Portugal, Araqchi said Iran had long had the technical know-how to build a bomb but doing so "is not part of Tehran’s security strategy," according to Iranian media.

His comments come as negotiators from Iran and the E3 (Britain, France, and Germany) are scheduled to meet in Geneva to discuss a range of issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and conflicts in the Middle East.

Araqchi described the meeting on November 29 as a “brainstorming session” to see “if there really is a way out” of the current nuclear impasse.

The Geneva meeting is not billed as nuclear talks by any party but Iran’s atomic program is expected to be a central topic. Talks between Iran and world powers to restore the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since September 2022.

Last week, the 35-member board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a censure resolution against Iran and tasked the UN nuclear watchdog to prepare a “comprehensive and updated assessment” on the state of Iran’s expanding nuclear program, including past and present attempts to develop a bomb.

The report could pave the way for referring Iran’s case to the UN Security Council in a bid to trigger the so-called “snapback” mechanism to reimpose UN sanctions that had been lifted under the terms of the 2015 agreement with world powers.

In response to the resolution, Iran activated several “new and advanced” centrifuges to enrich uranium.

Araqchi said he was “not optimistic” about the Geneva talks because he was unsure whether Tehran was “speaking to the right party.”

The 2015 nuclear agreement began to unravel after President-elect Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord during his first term in office in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Tehran responded by expanding its nuclear program, limiting inspections of its nuclear sites, and enriching uranium to as high as 60 percent.

A U.S.-brokered deal to end hostilities in Lebanon is a significant win for Israel, which achieved its key war aims, experts say.

The cease-fire agreement that came into effect on November 27 ended nearly 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group and political party.

Israel has eroded Hezbollah as a military power as well as a political and economic force in Lebanon.

Israel has also succeeded in decoupling Hezbollah's rocket and missile attacks on Israel from the Gaza war. The Iran-backed group had vowed to continue its attacks until Israel ended its ongoing yearlong war in the Palestinian enclave.

The truce will also end the presence of Hezbollah -- a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, although the EU has only blacklisted its armed wing -- in southern Lebanon, its stronghold. Israel, too, must withdrawal its ground forces from Lebanon.

"Israel got the deal it wanted," said Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy.

"Some are arguing in Israel that it would have been better to continue the war and aim for Hezbollah's full defeat, but the deal Israel achieved is as good as it could have hoped for," he added.

Don't Underestimate Hezbollah

Israel's devastating aerial bombardment of Lebanon decimated Hezbollah's leadership and military arsenal.

But experts say it is too early to write off the group, which has representatives in parliament and retains support among the Shi'ite Muslim community in Lebanon.

"Hezbollah is now a shadow of its former self, but it remains dangerous -- both to Israel and its many opponents in Lebanon," said Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Still, the war has shattered the armed group's narrative that it is Lebanon's protector against Israel, experts say.

Hezbollah vowed to continue attacking Israel until it ended its war in Gaza. But the group was forced to drop that demand.

The Israel-Hezbollah conflict killed over 3,600 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and displaced over 1 million people. Large areas of southern Lebanon and parts of the capital, Beirut, lie in ruins.

"Not only was it not able to defend Lebanon, but it dragged it into a conflict for reasons outside of Lebanese interests, and now effectively gave up on this very narrative -- as it decoupled from Gaza," said Horowitz.

"The group will face a legitimacy crisis, and will have to re-invent itself, and it will have to do so with a far less intelligent and politically shrewd leadership at its helm," he added.

Hezbollah has not publicly commented on the cease-fire deal. But Hassan Fadlallah, a Lebanese lawmaker and member of Hezbollah, insists that the group will stay armed.

"A lot of political groups in Lebanon will oppose this," Assaad Bechara, a political analyst based in Lebanon, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

"Hezbollah will not be present in Lebanon's southern borders and will not face Israel, so their weapons will be aimed [at Lebanon]. Lebanon's transition phase will be very difficult and precarious."

The Iran Angle

Hezbollah has long been the crown jewel within Iran's loose network of regional allies and proxies known as the "axis of resistance." It also served as Iran's first and most formidable line of defense against Israel.

Iran will try to use the respite afforded by the cease-fire to help Hezbollah "rehabilitate and reestablish its rank and file," said Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Azizi added that Iran and its allies view the cease-fire agreement as a "temporary respite until the next phase of confrontation with Israel."

Under the terms of the cease-fire deal, thousands of Lebanese soldiers will be stationed in southern Lebanon along with a UN peacekeeping force. The United States will provide military support to the Lebanese Army and will ensure the implementation of the deal along with France.

The presence of the West will likely be a major source of concern for Iran, which has long exerted its influence in Lebanon through Hezbollah, experts say.

Tehran will see this as an attempt to bolster Hezbollah's domestic political rivals and "erode the potential for Hezbollah to remain active in Lebanese politics," Azizi said.

A cease-fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah has come into effect in southern Lebanon after almost 14 months of fighting that triggered concerns of a wider conflict in the region.

After the cease-fire kicked off at 4 a.m. local time, the Israeli military warned civilians not to return to their homes in south Lebanon yet and not to approach Israeli positions.

However, convoys of civilians crossed into southern Lebanon, defying the both the Israeli warning and appeal by the Lebanese Army, which is set to deploy to the area to replace the Israeli forces.

Hezbollah is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and its military wing is blacklisted by the European Union.

The cease-fire was overwhelmingly approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, Netanyahu’s office said on November 26, marking a major development toward peace between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

The move was immediately welcomed by U.S. President Joe Biden, who said it represents a fresh start for Lebanon and shows that peace is possible after nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting that forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee and killed thousands of Lebanese.

Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin. Earlier, Netanyahu defended the cease-fire agreement as he recommended his security cabinet adopt the plan, vowing to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the deal.

In the hours leading up to the meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings, while Hezbollah said it launched drones toward Israel amid cross-border fire.

In a televised address, Netanyahu did not say how long the truce would last but noted that the length of the cease-fire "depends on what happens in Lebanon."

He added: "If Hezbollah violates the agreement and attempts to rearm, we will strike. If they try to renew terror activities near the border, we will strike. If they launch a rocket, dig a tunnel, or bring in a truck with missiles, we will strike."

The cease-fire marks the first major step toward ending the violence triggered by the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

However, the truce will not apply directly to Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Shortly after the cease-fire took effect, Hamas said it was also "ready" for a truce.

Earlier, Netanyahu said on November 26 that Israel would now focus its efforts on Hamas and releasing the hostages seized by the militants on October 7.

"From Day 2 of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own," he said.

"We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages."

Biden said that Israel reserved the right to resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce.

"This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said at the White House shortly after Netanyahu announced the security cabinet approval of the truce. If any party breaks the terms of the deal, "Israel retains the right to self-defense."

He said that over the next 60 days civilians on both sides will be able to safely return to their own communities. The deal requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon's army to deploy some 5,000 troops in the region, while Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the cease-fire and said it was a "fundamental step towards establishing calm and stability in Lebanon."

The war has killed at least 3,799 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

On the Israeli side, the hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.

The war in Lebanon escalated after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah.

Separately, Syria's Defense Ministry said six people were killed in Israeli strikes on border crossings with Lebanon just after midnight on November 27, hours before the cease-fire took effect.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has overwhelmingly approved a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah, Netanyahu’s office said on November 26, marking a major development toward peace between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.

The move was immediately welcomed by U.S. President Joe Biden, who said it represents a fresh start for Lebanon and shows that peace is possible after nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting that forced tens of thousand of Israelis to flee and killed thousands of Lebanese.

Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin. Earlier, Netanyahu defended the cease-fire agreement as he recommended his security cabinet adopt the plan, vowing to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the expected deal.

In the hours leading up to the meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings.

In a televised address, Netanyahu did not say how long the truce would last but noted that the length of the cease-fire “depends on what happens in Lebanon."

He added: "If Hezbollah violates the agreement and attempts to rearm, we will strike. If they try to renew terror activities near the border, we will strike. If they launch a rocket, dig a tunnel, or bring in a truck with missiles, we will strike."

SEE ALSO:

Israel's Wars In Gaza And Lebanon Fray Relations With Europe

A cease-fire would mark the first major step toward ending the violence triggered by the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Biden said that, under the deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah, the cease-fire will take effect at 4 a.m. local time on November 27. He stressed that Israel reserved the right to resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce.

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Biden said at the White House shortly after Netanyahu announced the security cabinet approval of the truce. If any party breaks the terms of the deal, “Israel retains the right to self-defense.”

He said that over the next 60 days civilians on both sides will be able to safely return to their own communities. The deal requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon's army to deploy in the region, while Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the cease-fire and said it was a "fundamental step towards establishing calm and stability in Lebanon."

The cease-fire does not address the war in Gaza, but Biden said it deserves a cease-fire deal as well.

Netanyahu said Israel would now focus its efforts on Hamas militants and his top security concern, Iran.

"From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own," he said.

"We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages."

SEE ALSO:

Lebanon's Armenians Face Painful Choice: Stay And Risk Death Or Flee

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier that a cease-fire would save lives and livelihoods in Lebanon and in Israel.

“It will make a big difference in creating the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon,” Blinken said at a briefing at the conclusion of a Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in Fiuggi, Italy.

He said he also believed that de-escalating tension could help end the conflict in Gaza by letting Hamas know that it can’t count on other fronts opening up in the war.

“In terms of Gaza itself, I also think this can have a significant impact…. Because one of the things that Hamas has sought from day one is to get others in on the fight, to create multiple fronts, to make sure that Israel was having to fight in a whole series of different places,” Blinken said.

The war has killed at least 3,799 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

On the Israeli side, the hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.

The war in Lebanon escalated after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah.

The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas after its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Yemen's Huthi rebels have attacked international shipping and fired on U.S. naval forces in the Red Sea for over a year.

The Huthis' missile and drone attacks have disrupted a key global trade route and triggered retaliatory strikes by the United States and Britain.

Now, U.S. media reports suggest that Russia has been helping the rebels pick their targets -- most of them commercial ships owned or operated by Western companies or vessels heading to or coming from Israel.

Experts say Russia is expanding its cooperation with the Huthis, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that is backed by Iran, including by sharing intelligence.

Moscow could even supply the Huthis with advanced arms in response to Washington loosening restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied weapons.

"It sends a message to the United States that Russia could make life very painful if it wants to, and it's a not-so-veiled threat that could be construed as retaliation for Washington's assistance to Ukraine," said Colin Clarke, director of policy and research at the New York-based Soufan Group intelligence consultancy.

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Who Are The Huthi Rebels And What Are Their Links To Iran?

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Enemy Of My Enemy

The Huthis have said their attacks on Western and Israeli targets in the Red Sea are in response to Israel's devastating yearlong war in the Gaza Strip.

The rebels have vowed to continue their attacks, which include direct missile and drone attacks on Israel, until a cease-fire is reached in the Palestinian enclave.

The Gaza war has pitted Israel against Iran's so-called axis of resistance, a loose network of state and nonstate actors that include the Huthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Syria.

Experts say Russia's support for the Huthis aligns with the Kremlin's narratives about opposing the West and empowering anti-Western armed groups globally.

"The Kremlin is interested in having friends who can test the nerves of Moscow's enemies in the Red Sea or anywhere in the Middle East," Ruslan Suleymanov, an academic and oriental studies expert, told Current Time.

He added Russia also wants to be seen supporting any group that "stands up to the West."

U.S. media reports and intelligence in recent months suggest that Russia is providing intelligence, including satellite data, to the Huthis to attack commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Since July, reports have said the Kremlin even threatened to transfer anti-ship missiles to the Huthis, but that the United States and Saudi Arabia dissuaded Russia.

Experts say that could change after Washington on November 17 reportedly allowed Ukraine to use longer-range U.S. Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike inside Russia.

"The Russian consideration of arming the Huthis has been directly related to what [Russian President] Vladimir Putin perceives as U.S. escalation against Russia in progressively loosening restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S.-supplied weaponry," said Kenneth Katzman, former senior Middle East analyst for the U.S. Congress.

In addition to disrupting shipping in the Red Sea, Russia is reportedly using the Huthis to recruit fighters from Yemen to join the war against Ukraine. Moscow is also ensuring that Russian ships can safely transit the Red Sea.

The Huthis have wrested control of Yemen's northwest and Red Sea coastline since the country's devastating civil war erupted in 2014.

Boon For The Huthis

Experts say the Huthis stand to gain by expanding their relations with Russia.

Clarke of the Soufan Group said Russian intelligence helped the rebels more accurately target Western vessels in the Red Sea. It also shows that the Huthis are not an "uncontrollable gang of terrorists," he said.

"On the contrary, they are a rational actor, a highly capable organization that is becoming an even bigger player in the Middle East and doing so through asymmetric means," Clarke added.

Iran is the Huthis' main military backer, supplying them with weapons technology and missile components, according to U.S. intelligence.

Experts say the rebels would benefit significantly from Russian missile technology, which Katzman said was "far more precise and effective" than the arms provided by Tehran.

This could lessen the group's dependence on Iran, an ally of Russia.

"The Russian weaponry might even enable the Huthis to successfully strike U.S. and coalition warships, which could escalate the Red Sea conflict enormously, were the Huthis to actually strike a U.S. naval vessel," Katzman said.

The United Arab Emirates on November 25 disclosed the names of three suspects detained in the killing of a 28-year-old Israeli-Moldovan ultra-Orthodox rabbi saying they were Uzbek nationals.

The suspects were arrested a day earlier after the body of Zvi Kogan, who ran a Kosher grocery store in Dubai and was also a representative of the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad, was discovered by security services.

U.A.E. authorities identified the suspects as Mahmudjon Abdurahim, 28, Olimboi Tohirovich, 28, and Azizbek Kamilovich, 33, apparently giving patronymic names of the last two men instead their last names. They did not say if official charges have been filed against the suspects.

"Hate has no place in our world. Our thoughts are with his family, the Jewish community, and all who grieve. We are in contact with Israel and the U.A.E.," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in a statement.

Kogan had been reported missing on November 22. His body was found later in the city of Al Ain.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the killing of Kogan, calling it a "heinous anti-Semitic terrorist act."

While Israeli officials have not publicly accused archrival Iran for the deadly attack, analysts noted that Tehran has been threatening retaliation against Israel for recent air strikes it carried out on Iranian soil after Iran launched a missile attack against Israel.

Tehran has denied any involvement in the murder of Kogan.

The Muslim-majority Gulf state with an overwhelmingly expatriate population prides itself on its safety, stability, and religious tolerance. The Chabad Hasidic movement is known for its outreach efforts worldwide.

The U.A.E. normalized relations with Israel in 2020 alongside Bahrain and Morocco in a series of U.S.-brokered agreements known as the Abraham Accords.

There is no figure for the number of Jews in the U.A.E., but an Israeli official has told AFP there were about 2,000 Israelis in the Gulf country, with the Jewish community estimated to be up to twice that figure.

The White House also condemned the killing on November 24.

"This was a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance, and coexistence. It was an assault as well on U.A.E. and its rejection of violent extremism across the board," the White House said in a statement on November 24.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity during the conflict in Gaza are "not enough." Khamenei told a gathering of the Basij volunteer corps on November 25 that the two Israeli leaders should face the death penalty. ICC prosecutor Karim Khan issued the warrant and judges said there were "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant "intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival" as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza." Israel has called the warrants "absurd." The current war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by an attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU. Some 1,200 people died in the attack, with around 240 more taken hostage back to Gaza. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Violence against women and girls is pervasive across the world, and often underreported.

Rampant physical, sexual, and psychological violence is part of what activists have called a global attack on women's rights.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has erased women from public life and severely restricted their fundamental rights.

Under the rule of the extremist group, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where teenage girls are banned from attending school.

"I wanted to become a doctor and serve my country," Marzieh, a teenaged Afghan girl, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "I studied for nine years, but it was all for nothing. Now, I have ended up staying at home."

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Silenced But Not Forgotten: Women Under The Taliban

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No country has recognized the Taliban, which seized power in 2021. But a growing number of countries, including in the West, are cooperating with its government on trade, security-related issues, and immigration.

"If the world can look at what the Taliban are doing to women and girls and shrug and move on and focus instead on partnering with the Taliban on other issues, that says something incredibly damning about how little the rights of women and girls matter to global leaders," said Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Under Taliban rule, there has been a surge in forced, early, and child marriages. The United Nations has said child marriages have increased by around 25 percent in the past three years in the country.

Rights groups have said a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis and the lack of educational and professional prospects for women have fueled the sharp uptick.

"I was married at 14, and I had my first child at 15," Shazia, a child bride, told Radio Azadi. "It was a daughter. I struggled a lot with her. I never thought I would survive. It was extremely difficult for me."

'Freedom To Choose'

In neighboring Iran, women are banned from many fields of study, sporting events, and from obtaining a passport or traveling outside the country without their husband's consent.

Women who violate the country's Islamic dress code, meanwhile, face fines and sentences of up to 10 years in prison.

A growing number of Iranian women have refused to wear the mandatory hijab, or Islamic head scarf, in defiance of the country's clerical establishment.

The hijab is a symbol of women's oppression in Iran, a 20-year-old woman inside the country told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

"This piece of cloth represents a right that has been taken away from us," she said. "It is the freedom to choose what I want to wear."

The issue of the controversial hijab was central to the unprecedented protests that erupted across Iran in 2022. The demonstrations were triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law.

During the protests, women and girls removed and burned their head scarves.

The authorities waged a brutal crackdown on protesters and doubled down on their enforcement of the hijab.

Meanwhile, scores of women in Iran are killed by their male relatives each year -- including their husbands, fathers, and brothers -- in the name of preserving the family's "honor."

According to Stop Femicide Iran, an NGO based in New York, over 150 women were victims of femicide in Iran in 2023.

Political Will

Gender-based violence is pervasive even in countries where women do not face restrictions in their appearances, freedom of movement, and right to work or study.

The UN estimated in 2023 that a woman was killed every 10 minutes by her partner or family member. Almost one in three women experiences violence at least once in her lifetime, according to the world body.

In Kosovo, at least 58 women have been killed in cases of femicide in the past 14 years.

Erona, a 20-year-old, was killed in April, almost a year after she got divorced. Her ex-husband is accused of murdering her.

Erona's mother, Milihatja, believes her daughter suffered years of domestic violence.

"She would come home and tell me that she would never return to him, but something would happen and she would go back," she told RFE/RL's Kosovo Service.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, a man live-streamed on Instagram the killing of his ex-wife before eventually turning the gun on himself.

The killing in August 2023 triggered shock and outrage, and underscored the issue of violence against women in the Balkan country.

Maida, who lives in the country's northeast, divorced and reported her abusive husband around a year ago.

"He came and grabbed me by the neck. My children saw it and started to cry. I told them ‘I'm OK,' but then he slapped me," Maida told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.

Then, she said, her husband threatened to kill her and their children. "I know what he's capable of, and I decided to go to the police and report him," she said.

Eventually, she managed to get a restraining order. But she still does not feel safe. "He can come at any time of the day and do what he imagined in his head," she said.

Experts say gender-based violence is preventable and addressing the issue often comes down to political will.

"These are not mysterious unsolvable problems -- they just require that governments be genuinely committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and that they put in place the resources, systems, and expertise needed to do so," said Barr of HRW.

Iran on November 24 confirmed it will hold talks regarding its disputed nuclear program with officials from Britain, France, and Germany on November 30, saying they will also focus on “bilateral, regional, and international issues.” In a news conference, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei spokesman did not specific the location of the talks. Earlier, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that Iran was arranging nuclear talks with Britain and the European Union starting on November 30 in Geneva. Kyodo quoted several diplomatic sources as saying the Iranian administration is seeking a solution to Iran's nuclear impasse ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on January 20. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Iran has vowed to respond to a resolution adopted by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog that criticizes the Islamic republic for what it says is poor cooperation by installing a number of "new and advanced" centrifuges.

The resolution, which comes shortly after the return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi from a trip to Iran, reportedly says it is "essential and urgent" for Tehran to "act to fulfill its legal obligations."

A joint statement by Iran's Foreign Ministry and Atomic Energy Organization said on November 22 that the country's nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, "issued an order to take effective measures, including launching a significant series of new and advanced centrifuges of various types."

The Iranian announcement came after the IAEA's board on November 21 issued a second resolution condemning Tehran's cooperation with the agency after a similar warning in June.

Some analysts say the resolution may be a step toward making a political decision to trigger a "snapback" of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Iran.

The "snapback" mechanism is outlined in UNSC Resolution 2231, which enshrined a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. However, the option to reimpose the sanctions expires in October 2025.

The IAEA resolution, put forward by France, Germany, and Britain and supported by the United States, comes at a critical time as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return at the White House in January.

Trump during his first term embarked on a "maximum pressure" campaign of intensified sanctions on Iran and unilaterally withdrew the United States in 2018 from a landmark 2015 agreement that lifted some sanctions on Iran in exchange of curbs to its nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful.

The resolution passed on November 21 also urged Iran to cooperate with an investigation launched after uranium particles were found at two sites that Iranian authorities had not declared as nuclear locations.

Nineteen of the 35 members of the IAEA board voted in favor of the resolution. Russia, China, and Burkina Faso opposed it, 12 members abstained, while one did not vote, diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity told the AP.

It also calls on the IAEA to come up with a "comprehensive report" on Iran's nuclear activities by spring.

During Grossi's visit, Iran agreed with an IAEA demand to limit its stock of uranium enriched at 60 percent purity, which is still under the 90 percent threshold needed for a nuclear weapon, but it is much higher than the 3.67 percent limit it agreed to in the 2015 deal.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who was Tehran's chief negotiator for the 2015 agreement, warned that Iran would not negotiate "under pressure."

Tehran has responded to previous similar resolutions by moves such as removing IAEA cameras and monitoring equipment from several nuclear sites, and increasing uranium enrichment to 60 percent purity at a second site, the Fordow plant.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Muhammad Deif, a military commander in the Iran-backed group Hamas, alleging they committed crimes against humanity in the ongoing Gaza war.

All three are accused of committing war crimes connected to the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, an EU- and U.S-designated terrorist organization that is part of Tehran's network of proxies in the Middle East, and Israel's subsequent military intervention in the Gaza Strip.

Iran's backing of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Iran-supported militant group and political party that controls much of the southern part of Israel's neighbor, Lebanon, has sparked fears that the war in the Gaza Strip will engulf the Middle East.

Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its political party. Hezbollah’s political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament.

The court said the warrants had been classified as "secret" to protect witnesses and to safeguard the conduct of the investigations.

Israel, which claims it killed Deif in July, blasted the move as "a dark moment for the ICC."

Hamas, which has never officially acknowledged Deif's death, called the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant an "important step toward justice."

The ICC said it had issued the arrest warrant for Deif as the prosecutor had not been able to determine whether he was dead.

His warrant shows charges of mass killings during the October 7 attack on Israel that left some 1,200 dead, as well as charges of rape and the taking of around 240 hostages in the attack.

"The Chamber considered that there are reasonable grounds to believe that both [Israeli] individuals intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity, from at least 8 October 2023 to 20 May 2024," the ICC said in a statement.

"This finding is based on the role of Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant in impeding humanitarian aid in violation of international humanitarian law and their failure to facilitate relief by all means at its disposal," it said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called the move against Netanyahu and Gallant "absurd" in a post on X, saying it was an attack of Israel's right to self-defense.

"A dark moment for the ICC in The Hague, in which it lost all legitimacy for its existence and activity," Sa'ar said.

Tehran has yet to comment publicly on the warrants.

Neither the United States nor Israel have recognized the ICC's jurisdiction.

A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said Washington "fundamentally rejects" the issuance of the arrest warrants and "the troubling process errors that led to this decision.

Meanwhile, the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in a post on X that ICC decisions "are binding on all states party to the Rome Statute, which includes all EU Member States."

The court said Israel's acceptance of the court's jurisdiction was not required.

However, the court itself has no law enforcement levers to enforce warrants and relies on cooperation from its member states.

Autocratic states have long used allegations of mental illness to discredit and imprison their critics.

In Iran, the authorities are increasingly branding women who violate the country's hijab law -- a key pillar of the Islamic system -- as psychologically unstable.

The move has coincided with unprecedented protests against Iran's clerical establishment and growing calls for greater social and political freedoms.

Experts say the Iranian authorities are employing punitive psychiatry -- the misuse of psychiatric diagnoses, treatments, and institutions to punish, control, or repress individuals -- to go after government critics.

"In countries like ours, being mentally ill is taboo, so the authorities use mental health allegations to raise public sympathy to justify their human rights violations," Medis Tavakoli, an Iranian psychotherapist and rights activists based in Europe, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

'Labeling Healthy People As Sick'

In July 2023, for the first time, judges diagnosed three prominent actresses sentenced for not wearing the hijab as "mentally ill."

The unprecedented move was condemned by top Iranian psychologists who said the judiciary was abusing its authority.

Now, the authorities have announced the creation of a rehabilitation center in Tehran for women who do not wear the mandatory head scarf.

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The Tehran Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said on November 12 that the center will offer "scientific and psychological treatment" to women who refuse to follow the Islamic dress code. No other details were provided.

In response, Iranian psychologists have raised the alarm about the consequences of "labeling healthy people as sick."

Earlier this month, a young woman who took off her clothes outside a university in Tehran in apparent protest against harassment was committed to psychiatric care -- a move deemed "illegal" by rights activists.

The political abuse of psychiatry is well-documented, and was prominently used in the Soviet Union against dissidents. In recent years, the authorities in countries like China, North Korea, and Russia have labeled their domestic critics as mentally ill.

Iran has been increasingly using mental health allegations and other "hateful statements" against women who oppose the hijab since unprecedented protests in 2022, according to Amnesty International.

Months of antiestablishment protests erupted across Iran in September 2022 after the death in custody of a young woman who was arrested for violating the hijab law.

Women were at the forefront of the protests, which snowballed into one of the most sustained demonstrations against Iran's theocracy, with some protesters calling for an end to clerical rule.

"Governments alone cannot get rid of all of their critics," Tavakoli said. "One method is to lob accusations and labels against critics. So, when they get rid of their critics, society thinks that bad actors were weeded out."

'Alternative' Punishment

The authorities' decision to establish a rehabilitation center for violators of the hijab law has caused uproar in Iran.

Mojgan Ilanlou, a documentary filmmaker and women's rights activist based in Tehran, said she felt "pity" for those who come up with "such brilliant ideas."

"They themselves know better than anyone how much these things make people laugh," she told Radio Farda.

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In recent years, the authorities have taken several measures to enforce the hijab on women in a society that is increasingly shunning head scarves.

The Hijab and Chastity law went into force last month, mandating fines and sentences of up to 10 years in prison for those who are deemed to be dressed "inappropriately" in public.

Iranian authorities have said the "treatment" center in Tehran can serve as an "alternative" punishment.

But Ilanlou said the opening of the clinic showed that the authorities "are losing the fight" to enforce the hijab.

Iran-based political activist Pouran Nazemi said that "women have been putting up a fight."

"I doubt [the authorities] can continue resisting what society wants," she told Radio Farda.

Roya Karimi Majd of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report

Iranian authorities are using executions as "a tool of fear," particularly directed at ethnic minorities, dissidents, and foreign nationals, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on November 20.

The rights watchdog highlighted a recent surge in capital punishment sentences against these groups, noting that the verdicts are handed down amid rampant violations of due process.

According to Iran Human Rights group, in the first 10 months of this year, at least 651 people were executed in Iran -- 166 people in October alone.

HRW noted the case of Kurdish political prisoner Varisheh Moradi, sentenced to death by Iran’s revolutionary court in Tehran on November 10 on the charge of “armed rebellion against the state."

Moradi, a member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan, was arrested in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province in August last year and kept for five months in solitary confinement in the infamous Evin prison where she was tortured. Her family has not been allowed to visit her since May, the group said.

Moradi was not allowed to defend herself, and the judge did not permit her lawyers to present a defense, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported.

“Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of fear, particularly targeting ethnic minorities and political dissidents after unfair trials,” said HRW's Nahid Naghshbandi. “This brutal tactic aims to suppress any opposition to an autocratic government through intimidation,” she said.

Five other Kurdish men were sentenced to death in recent weeks on charges of “espionage for Israel," HRW said.

Four Arab prisoners from Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, are at risk of imminent execution, after being sentenced to death by a revolutionary court with two other individuals for their alleged involvement in the killings of two Basij members, a law enforcement officer, and a soldier.

The four -- Ali Majdam, Moein Khonafri, Mohammadreza Moghadam, and Adnan Gheibshavi (Musavi) -- were arrested in 2017 and 2018, according to human rights groups.

Afghan citizens in Iran have been targeted, in particular, by death sentences, HRW noted, adding that according to human rights groups, at least 49 Afghan nationals have been executed in Iran this year, 13 in the past month alone.

“Iran’s revolutionary courts are a tool of systematic repression that violate citizens’ fundamental rights and hand out death sentences indiscriminately, leaving legal protections meaningless,” Naghshbandi said.

“The international community should categorically condemn this alarming trend and pressure Iranian authorities to halt these executions,” she added.

Mai Sato, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, has also voiced concern about the "alarming" increase in the number of executions.

"In August 2024 alone, at least 93 people were executed, with nearly half in relation to drug offences," Sato said on November 1.

No charges have been brought against the Iranian woman who disrobed in an apparent protest outside her Tehran university, a spokesman for the judiciary said, adding that she had been released from the hospital to her family.

"Given that she has been sent to the hospital and it has been determined that she is sick, she has been handed over to the family and they are currently taking care of her," Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told a news conference on November 19.

The spokesman added that "no judicial case has been filed against this student." It wasn't immediately clear if the comments meant that the case had been permanently closed.

The woman was identified as Ahoo Bahari, a student from the science and research department of Tehran Azad University.

She took off her clothes in public on November 3 in an apparent protest at the university and was arrested shortly afterward.

The circumstances that led to her taking off her clothes remain unclear, but witnesses say she was harassed by the university's security officers over what she had been wearing. One video showed officers violently forcing the unidentified woman into a car.

Reports in Iranian media later alleged she was suffering from mental illness and that she was taken to a psychiatric hospital.

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Video footage posted online raised concerns of the woman's safety from international rights groups, who condemned her treatment and demanded her immediate release.

Amnesty International said it had previously published evidence of the government's crackdown on protesters under the pretext of "mental disorders" that needed to be "treated."

Rights groups and Iranian activists have long assailed the government of the conservative Muslim nation for attacks on protesters, often targeting those who challenge strict laws governing women’s dress in public.

New laws increase prison terms and fines for women and girls who breach the dress code in the wake of the mass Women, Life, Freedom protests that followed the death of a young woman while in police custody for an alleged head-scarf violation.

Iranian rights activist Hossein Ronaghi was held for several hours after being detained following a sit-in protest in central Tehran, his family said on November 18. "Ronaghi was violently arrested by a large number of armed officers at 5 p.m. at Vali-e Asr Square" before being released at his front door at 9 p.m., his brother Hassan said on Telegram. Ronaghi had announced the protest on Telegram, saying it was to honor Kianoosh Sanjari, a journalist and political activist who jumped to his death from a Tehran building on November 13 to protest the numerous arrests and interrogations of himself and other political activists.

The U.S.-based PEN America free-speech watchdog has asked the UN Human Rights Council to intervene in the case of imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who it said is in "urgent need of medical care." In an open letter, PEN urged the UN “to call on the Iranian authorities to grant Mohammadi a medical furlough on humanitarian grounds so that she is able to receive comprehensive and essential care for a range of serious medical conditions." Mohammadi, 52, has been in and out of prison for the past 20 years. She is currently serving a 12-year sentence in Tehran's Evin prison for "spreading propaganda," allegations that she, her family, and supporters reject.

The EU has widened its sanctions against Iran over the country's support of the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine, the European Commission said on November 18, targeting firms, ports, and individuals involved in the transfer of ballistic missiles and drones to Russia for use on the battlefield.

Included in the new sanctions are the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) -- which will see its assets frozen -- and measures targeting the activities of Iranian ports on the Caspian Sea linked to listed entities and individuals.

The EU said it decided to "widen the scope of the EU framework for restrictive measures in view of Iran's military support to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and to armed groups and entities in the Middle East and the Red Sea region."

It said the new measures target "the use of vessels and ports for the transfer of Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), missiles, and related technologies and components."

The United States, Britain, France, and Germany have accused Iran of sending ballistic missiles and related technology to Russia for use against Ukraine, sparking consultations among European allies on the matter.

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Ali Safaei, chief of Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization, rejected the "European accusations," calling them "baseless," according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

"It is regrettable that some delegations, including the U.S., have once again disseminated false and misleading information to advance their political agendas," Safaei said.

The IRISL headlined the list of the newly sanctioned entities.

"IRISL is Iran's national maritime carrier, and for years its ships have been involved in shipping drones on behalf of the EU-listed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy," the EU said.

IRISL director Mohammad Reza Khiabani is also targeted in the sanctions.

The measures include "access to facilities of the ports and locks, such as Amirabad and Anzali, and the provision of any services to vessels," it said, adding that exceptions will be made for vessels in need of assistance for safety for humanitarian purposes.

The EU also listed three Russian shipping companies -- MG Flot, VTS Broker, and Arapax -- whose vessels are involved in transporting Iranian-made weapons and ammunition, including UAV components, across the Caspian Sea to resupply Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

The November 18 announcement is a continuing of a wide-ranging strategy by the West of targeting Iranian entities and individuals over rights abuses, aid to extremist allies and proxies in the region, and weapons transfer.

EU foreign ministers on October 14 approved new sanctions against seven individuals and seven entities linked to Iran after Kyiv's Western allies accused Tehran of sending ballistic missiles to Russia to aid in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Those sanctions, first reported in an exclusive by Radio Farda, targeted companies and individuals accused of being involved in the transfer of the weapons to Russia, including the country's flagship carrier Iran Air, as well as airlines Saha Airlines and Mahan Air.

Those targeted are subject to an asset freeze and travel ban to the European Union. Additionally, the provision of funds or economic resources, directly or indirectly, with those listed is prohibited.

Iran Air has direct flights to several cities in Europe, including Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne, Paris, and Milan.

Overall, the EU said sanctions have been imposed on 227 individuals and 42 entities in Iran in response to "human rights abuses, nuclear proliferation activities, and military support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on November 16 that there remains a "limited opportunity" for nuclear negotiations with the West, according to Iranian state media.

Relations between Tehran and the United States have been especially tense since then-President Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and global powers and reimposed tough U.S. sanctions on Iran.

"There is still an opportunity for diplomacy, although this opportunity is not much. It is a limited opportunity," Araqchi was quoted as telling state television.

Western concerns at Iranian actions have soared amid the yearlong war in the Gaza Strip after U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization Hamas carried out a brutal attack in Israel in October 2023, with Iranian allies including Huthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon attacking Israel in support of Hamas.

With Trump poised to return to the White House in January following his election victory earlier this month, reports circulated of possible informal contacts, including claims that Trump ally Elon Musk met last week in New York with Iran's envoy to the United Nations.

After days of silence, Tehran on November 16 "categorically denied" that any such meeting took place.

This week, Rafael Grossi, head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), urged Iran and its global partners to achieve "concrete, tangible, and visible results" in talks over Tehran's nuclear program as the return of Trump could mean the window for diplomacy is closing.

The 2015 deal, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), had given Iran some limited relief from international sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program designed to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

After Washington's withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran expanded its nuclear program and restricted IAEA inspections of its nuclear sites.

U.S. President Joe Biden entered the White House in 2017 pledging to try to revive the deal but made no breakthroughs.

Trump's announced pick for secretary of state, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, is generally regarded as an advocate of tough action to counter Iranian influence through a return to a "maximum pressure" policy.

With additional reporting by AFP

Tehran has "categorically denied" U.S. reports suggesting that billionaire Trump ally and adviser Elon Musk met with Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeed Iravani in New York last week, contradicting reporting by The New York Times and AP asserting that Tehran sought the meeting in an apparent effort to ease tensions with President-elect Donald Trump. Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying those are "false reports." In his first term, Trump withdrew from a major nuclear accord with Tehran and global powers and reimposed tough sanctions that walloped Iran's currency and economy. Trump has pledged close if informal cooperation with Musk, who has boasted that he has "top-secret clearance" and said he looks forward to a role as "first buddy" to the next U.S. president. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, on November 15 asked Iran to help secure a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and whose military wing is blacklisted by the European Union.

He also appeared to urge Iran to convince the militant group to agree to a deal that could require it to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border.

As a top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei visited Lebanon for talks, Lebanese officials said an American proposal for a cease-fire deal had been passed on to Hezbollah, aiming to end 13 months of exchanges of fire between Israel and the group.

Iran is a main backer of Hezbollah and for decades has been funding and arming the Lebanese militant group.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization Hamas’s surprise attack into Israel on October 7, 2023, ignited the war in Gaza.

Iran backs any decision taken by Lebanon in talks to secure a cease-fire with Israel, a senior Iranian official said on November 15, signaling Tehran wants to see an end to a conflict that has dealt heavy blows to its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and whose military wing is blacklisted by the European Union. Israel launched air strikes in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, flattening buildings for a fourth consecutive day. Israel has stepped up its bombardment of the area this week, an escalation that has coincided with signs of movement in U.S.-led diplomacy toward a cease-fire. Senior Iranian official Ali Larijani, asked whether he had come to Beirut to undermine the U.S. truce plan, said: "We are not looking to sabotage anything. We are after a solution to the problems."

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has visited Iran’s key underground uranium enrichment sites at Fordow and Natanz, Iranian state media reported on November 15, without offering details. Iran has restricted inspection of its nuclear sites and barred several IAEA inspectors from visiting its enrichment facilities. Grossi is in Iran to push for diplomacy, warning that the “space for negotiation…is getting smaller” over Iran’s advancing nuclear program. Tehran insists its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. The visit comes ahead of an upcoming meeting of the IAEA's Board of Governors, where some nations are pushing for action against the Islamic republic.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been bitter rivals for decades, vying to lead competing branches of Islam and standing on opposing sides of conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

But Tehran and Riyadh have taken major steps to de-escalate tensions and boost cooperation, a move that appeared unthinkable until recently.

The rapprochement has coincided with growing fears of an all-out war in the Middle East, where U.S. ally Israel is engaged in wars against Iranian-backed groups in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

The detente process has intensified since Donald Trump's decisive victory in the U.S. presidential election earlier this month. The president-elect has pledged to bring peace to the region.

"I don't view this as a warming of relations but rather as a cautious detente," said Talal Mohammad, associate fellow at the Britain-based Royal United Services Institute.

Reassuring Iran

The first signs of a thaw came in March 2023, when Iran and Saudi Arabia restored diplomatic relations after more than seven years following a surprise Chinese-brokered agreement.

But it was Israel's invasion of Gaza in October 2023 -- soon after the U.S.- and EU-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel -- that gave real impetus to Iran-Saudi rapprochement efforts.

Since the war erupted, Iran and Israel have traded direct aerial attacks for the first time. The tit-for-tat assaults have brought the region to the brink of a full-blown conflict.

Saudi Arabia is "concerned that these escalating tensions between Israel and Iran could spiral out of control and lead to a broader regional conflict that may impact their interests," said Hamidreza Azizi, fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Azizi adds that Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and Shi'a-dominated Iran are still "far from friends," despite the recent rapprochement, and they remain rivals vying for influence.

Over the past year, Saudi Arabia has stopped conducting air strikes in neighboring Yemen against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels. Riyadh has also made attempts to negotiate an end to the 10-year conflict pitting the Huthis against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

The Huthis have also ceased cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia. In 2019, the rebels managed to shut down half of the kingdom's oil production.

The Trump Factor

Trump's victory in the November 5 presidential election has injected more urgency to the Iran-Saudi rapprochement, experts say.

Saudi Arabia's top general, Fayyad al-Ruwaili, made a rare trip to Iran on November 10 to meet Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri in what Iranian media dubbed "defense diplomacy."

The following day, Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman accused Israel of committing "collective genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza and explicitly condemned Israel's attack last month on Iranian military sites.

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Azizi says there are fears in the region that Trump's electoral victory will embolden Israel to intensify its attacks on Iran and Tehran's interests.

During Trump's first term in office from 2017 to 2021, his administration pursued a campaign of "maximum pressure" on Iran that included imposing crippling sanctions against Tehran.

At the same time, Trump struck a close relationship with Riyadh. He helped facilitate normalization between several Arab states and Israel under the so-called Abraham Accords.

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Before Israel launched its devastating war in Gaza, Saudi Arabia was reportedly on the verge of a historic deal to normalize relations with Israel.

Experts say that the Huthis' attacks in 2019 on Saudi oil facilities convinced Riyadh that Washington will not come to its aid if it is attacked.

"Given Trump's tendency toward unpredictable shifts in policy, Saudi Arabia may seek to play an influential role by encouraging Trump to adopt a balanced approach that ensures regional stability without triggering escalation with Iran," Mohammad said.

"By subtly guiding U.S. policy toward calibrated sanctions rather than aggressive pressure, Saudi Arabia could help maintain regional security while avoiding the risks of open confrontation," he added.

Israeli Normalization

Normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel have been indefinitely postponed. Saudi officials have recently said that a deal was off until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Mohammad says Riyadh has significant strategic incentives to normalize relations with Israel, including security and economic cooperation as well as access to U.S. nuclear and defense technology.

But analysts say Saudi Arabia will only resume talks when the Gaza war is over, given the current public sentiment in the Muslim world toward Israel.

"Normalizing relations without achieving tangible rights for Palestinians could weaken Saudi Arabia's normative influence within the Islamic world -- a position they are keen to maintain," Azizi argued.

The Saudis will also have to take into account Iran, which staunchly opposes Saudi normalization with Israel.

"Riyadh may consult with Tehran and seek assurances that normalization with Israel would not heighten hostilities or undermine the balance achieved through recent diplomatic outreach to Iran," Mohammad said.