Iran FM: US must honor Islamabad MoU it signed, or war continues

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the United States must return to its commitments and the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) if it wants a way out of the current crisis, stressing that the Iranian nation remains steadfast in defending its rights.

Speaking after the first day of the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) heads of state summit in the Kyrgyz capital on Monday, Araghchi said his meetings with counterparts had been “completely businesslike and away from the usual formalities.”

He added that discussions focused on economic cooperation and other fields, while also addressing the United States’ aggressive attacks and their consequences.

“We emphasized that the Iranian nation will continue to stand firm to claim its rights, and this was stressed in all the meetings,” he said.

Araghchi noted that the Islamabad MoU, signed by the presidents of Iran and the United States, had been raised in every encounter. Washington has violated that understanding.

“The United States must return to its commitments and adhere to the provisions of the memorandum of understanding. After that, we can exit this situation, because all countries are concerned that the war end as soon as possible,” the foreign minister said.

“The solution is completely clear and specified. The United States must return to its commitments and to the same agreement that its president signed. In that case, everything can be put on the right track.”

Meanwhile, President Masoud Pezeshkian traveled to Bishkek with Araghchi to address both the SCO Council of Heads of State and the expanded SCO Plus format. The two-day gathering, hosted by Kyrgyzstan as current chair, runs under the slogan “25 Years of the SCO: Together Towards Sustainable Peace, Development and Prosperity.”

The Islamabad MoU, brokered with Pakistani mediation and signed in June, provided for an immediate halt to military operations, the lifting of the US naval blockade, Iranian arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz, a path toward sanctions relief, and a $300 billion reconstruction framework.

However, the US violated the deal by conducting deadly aerial assaults on Iran and imposing a naval blockade of the country.

Pakistan had previously played a pivotal role in securing the April 8 ceasefire that brought an end to the 40-day criminal US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that Tehran remains ready to implement the understanding if Washington honors the commitments its own president signed.

Iran has used the SCO platform to highlight multilateralism as a counterweight to unilateral pressure. At the earlier foreign ministers’ meeting in July, Araghchi warned that any country assisting US military operations against Iran could become a legitimate target and called on members not to allow “aggression to replace diplomacy, force to replace right, and double standards to replace justice.”

Iranian officials have consistently maintained that the path to de-escalation is not new negotiations on Washington’s terms but a return to the agreement already reached at the highest level. The Iranian nation, they stress, will not abandon its rights.

EU surrenders sovereignty to US coercion, becomes accessory to economic terrorism: Iran FM spokesman

The European Union has surrendered its sovereignty, laws, values and ethics to American coercion and turned itself into an accessory to Washington’s lawless economic war against Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has said.

In a statement posted on his official X account on Monday night, Baghaei pointed to the EU’s own Blocking Statute, which prohibits European operators from complying with extraterritorial laws of third countries and treats such measures as contrary to international law.

“How, then, can the Union now support the most predatory and unlawful unilateral coercive measures against Iran?” he asked.

Baghaei contrasted today’s posture with 1996, when the EU resolved to act independently in defense of its sovereignty against the American sanctions regime and adopted the Blocking Statute.

“Today it has become an accessory to Washington’s lawless conduct,” he said.

The Union’s endorsement of America’s unlawful economic war constitutes a grave violation of international law, the spokesman added. Every EU member state will be held accountable for the consequences of its contribution to this wrongful act.

“The European Union cannot endorse Washington’s economic terrorism against Iran while claiming to seek de-escalation and regional stability. The two positions are mutually exclusive,” Baghaei stated. “This irresponsible stance is evidence of the EU’s moral decay and political incompetence.”

Iranian officials have repeatedly described US secondary sanctions and naval blockade measures as economic terrorism and a violation of the UN Charter’s principles of sovereign equality.

Tehran has long maintained that Europe’s failure to enforce its own Blocking Statute against Washington’s extraterritorial dictates exposes the gap between Brussels’ rhetoric on a rules-based order and its actual conduct.

The statement comes as the Islamic Republic continues to reject any attempt to impose terms of settlement through coercion and insists that the only viable path out of the current crisis is a return by the United States to the commitments it signed in the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.

The Islamabad MoU, brokered with Pakistani mediation and signed in June, provided for an immediate halt to military operations, the lifting of the US naval blockade, Iranian arrangements for the Strait of Hormuz, a path toward sanctions relief, and a $300 billion reconstruction framework.

However, the US violated the deal by conducting deadly aerial assaults on Iran and imposing a naval blockade of the country.

Pakistan had previously played a pivotal role in securing the April 8 ceasefire that brought an end to the 40-day criminal US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

Saudis to borrow $8 billion amid economic fallout of US-Israel war on Iran: Report

A man counts Saudi riyal banknotes at a market in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by AFP)

Saudi Arabia plans to raise at least $8 billion from a fresh loan, as the US-Israel war of aggression on Iran has severely impacted the economy of the oil-rich kingdom, according to a report. 

Saudi Arabia’s National Debt Management Center has begun early talks with banks about a potential deal, Bloomberg reported, quoting people familiar with the issue.

According to the report, Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is also holding discussions with banks. Both potential transactions are still at an early stage and may not ultimately proceed, the sources said. 

This comes as Riyadh steps up its efforts to diversify funding sources amid the economic fallout from the war.

Following the US-Israeli aggression, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the primary export route for oil produced by Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf Arab states. The war has also raised import costs and strained supply chains.

Yemen’s armed forces have also intensified their retaliatory attacks against key targets in Saudi Arabia and blocked Saudi shipping at the Red Sea gateway in retaliation for the Saudi strikes and blockade on their country.

Saudi Arabia’s economy recorded its steepest contraction since the COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter, with the attacks contributing to about a 25% fall in the oil sector.

While the war also pushed up oil prices, Saudi Arabia posted a 34.3 billion-riyal ($9.1 billion) second-quarter deficit.

The latest outreach follows the NDMC’s May announcement that it had completed its annual borrowing plan, covering approximately 90% of its financing needs. The institution said any remaining requirements would be met mainly through private channels and domestic markets.

The kingdom has emerged as one of the most active emerging-market borrowers, raising about $6 billion in domestic and international bonds this year, while Aramco has secured another $4 billion. Its sovereign wealth fund raised $7 billion in May, one of the first public-market deals since the US-Israeli war began.

Late last year, the NDMC secured a $13 billion, seven-year syndicated loan, an unusual step that underscored the kingdom’s efforts to tap non-market sources of funding to finance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s diversification plan.

The US and Israel launched another round of aggression against Iran on February 28, some eight months after carrying out unprovoked attacks on the country.

Iran swiftly retaliated by launching barrages of missiles and drones at the Israeli-occupied territories, as well as US bases and interests across the region.

A ceasefire took effect on April 7, and on June 18, the presidents of Iran and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to end the war and begin a 60-day diplomatic process to resolve the differences.

However, renewed US strikes have once again triggered Iranian retaliation.