Simon Shercliff on Tuesday posted a tweet asking the Iranian government to “release all arbitrarily detained individuals, including all journalists.”

He was referring to journalists detained in Iran in the wake of last year’s riots in the country. Some are currently being held and investigated for potential links to rioters.

A statement by the ministry said Iran strongly objected to the UK ambassador’s remarks, which were against diplomatic norms.

“(Issuing) imprudent and irresponsible remarks that are contrary to diplomatic norms is a clear example of interference in the internal affairs (of Iran) and is unacceptable,” the statement quoted the director general of the Western Europe bureau at the foreign ministry as telling Shercliff in a meeting at the ministry.

The diplomat said Britain “is in no position to make statements” on Iran, given its “indefensible” policy towards the Iranian people, Press TV reported.

The British envoy, in response, stressed his country’s will to keep respectful relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the ministry’s statement said.

US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan set the hearing for Friday, shortly after Trump’s attorneys and members of US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office had clashed in a joint court over when to schedule the proceeding, Reuters reported.

Prosecutors had said they were available all week, while Trump’s lawyers had asked for a postponement until early next week.

Friday’s hearing comes after Trump’s defense team on Monday opposed a request from prosecutors for Judge Chutkan to impose a protective order to ensure confidential evidence is not shared publicly by Trump, suggesting he could use the information to intimidate witnesses.

Trump has pleaded not guilty and has called the charges politically motivated.

Trump’s attorneys said limits would infringe on his right to free speech, protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Trump is not expected to be present in the courtroom on Friday, after Judge Chutkan waived his appearance.

Typically, defense lawyers do not oppose such protective orders because doing so can delay the government from producing the evidence it intends to use at trial in a process known as discovery.

The disagreement between the parties over the hearing date represented the latest effort by Trump’s team to delay or slow legal proceedings.

It also underscored the logistical challenges that Trump’s team may have as it continues to represent him in two separate federal criminal cases brought by Smith’s office, one in Washington, DC, and the other in southern Florida, where Trump is charged with retaining highly classified records after leaving the White House and obstructing the government’s efforts to have the records returned. Trump also pleaded not guilty in that case.

One of Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, will be in federal court in Florida on Thursday for an arraignment, after the government filed a superseding indictment that charged Trump with additional criminal counts and also charged another one of his employees in the case.

In the joint Washington filing, Trump’s lawyers said Trump wished for both Blanche and his other lawyer, John Lauro, to be present for the hearing before Judge Chutkan.

“I think NATO should be dissolved. I think it should have been dissolved when Germany was reunified,” Sare told Sputnik. “I think frankly, it’s dead already. I mean, you know, there’s so much dissent within NATO already as it is. It is a dinosaur of an institution. So I don’t think it’s really going to be around that much longer.”

The future of the alliance depends on how long some of its members in Europe “who are bearing the brunt of the insanity of the current American and British leadership want to stick around and play that game having their economies destroyed,” she continued.

The candidate declined to speculate on how the alliance would fall apart, but expressed belief that “it’s simply not going to be able to continue” because “it’s really a dead institution.”

NATO has not stopped expanding since the dissolution of the rival Warsaw Pact and the collapse of the Soviet Union, drawing the ire of Moscow. The relationship took a nosedive over a 2014 change of power in Ukraine.

In December 2021, Russia requested guarantees that the alliance would not expand eastward to include Ukraine and Georgia, but was refused. In February 2022, Russia launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

NATO responded by deploying even more troops to the eastern flank. At the Vilnius summit in July this year, the alliance reaffirmed that Ukraine will become a NATO member and removed the requirement for a Membership Action Plan to accelerate its accession after the conflict with Russia ends.

Ayatollah Sistani made the remark in response to a letter from Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, on the second anniversary of the pontiff’s visit to Iraq and his meeting with the top Shiite cleric.

Ayatollah Sistani said the Pope’s historic visit to Iraq and their meeting in the Iraqi city of Najaf provided “impetus” for many followers of Islam and Christianity – and other faiths – to show greater tolerance and good coexistence with those who have different religions or beliefs.

Recalling the topics raised in the meeting, the top Shiite cleric underlined the importance of concerted efforts to promote a culture of peaceful coexistence and reject violence and hatred.

Ayatollah Sistani also called for the establishment of the values of harmony among people, based on caring for rights and mutual respect among the followers of different religions.

“More needs to be done to defend oppressed people around the world as the tragedies experienced by many people and ethnic and social groups in many places in the east and west of the world, the suppression of fundamental freedoms and the absence of social justice play a role in the emergence of some extremist movements that do not hesitate to attack others with whom they disagree in thought or belief,” he said, according to Press TV.

“I find it important that everyone pay more attention to the lifting of these grievances and work to the best of their ability to achieve a decent degree of justice and reassurance in different societies,” he added. “It would certainly contribute to reducing the manifestations of hatred and violence in general.”

Ayatollah Sistani also placed a premium on the underlying role of faith in God and commitment to the high moral values in overcoming the great challenges that all humanity faces in the new era.

On Tuesday, Pope Francis denounced as “barbaric” the recent Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark, saying such blasphemous moves prevent dialog among nations.

“The story of burning the Holy Quran is really a barbaric act. These cases harm and prevent mature dialog between people,” the Pope wrote in a letter in response to Argentinian Shiite scholar Abdul Karim Paz, representative of Argentina’s Islamic foundation, who had condemned the repeated acts of desecrating the holy Muslim book.

The pontiff had already condemned the sacrilegious acts, expressing “anger and disgust” over the moves.

Over the past month, the holy Muslim book has been subject to acts of desecration by extremist elements multiple times in Sweden and Denmark, whose governments have sanctioned and justified such insults as “freedom of expression.”

The sacrilegious acts have ignited the ire of the entire Muslim community across the globe. Several countries have summoned or expelled Swedish and Danish ambassadors.

The Nordic countries have deplored the desecration of the Quran but claimed that they cannot prevent it under constitutional laws protecting freedom of speech.

The ministry added in a statement that the release followed last month’s visit by Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian to the UAE, where he held consultations with high-ranking Emirati officials.

The ministry also emphasized that it will seriously continue its consular and judicial support for the Iranians abroad and pursue the fulfillment of their rights, including the prisoners, Press TV reported.

On June 22, Amirabdollahian visited the UAE, where he discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation in separate meetings with Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The trip followed stops in Qatar, Kuwait and Oman amid a flurry of diplomatic moves by the Islamic Republic to improve ties with neighbors and secure the region.

Recently, 11 Iranians were released from Kuwaiti jails and seven more from Qatari prisons.

Alireza Enayati, assistant to the foreign minister and Director General of the Persian Gulf Department at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, called in the Russian ambassador to hand over the Islamic Republic of Iran’s objections to the contents of the joint statement issued after the sixth ministerial meeting of strategic dialogue between Russia and the PGCC.

Enayati told the Russian envoy that the three islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb belong to Iran for eternity, and demanded that the Russian Federation rectify its stance on the matter, according to the Foreign Ministry’s website.

The Russian ambassador to the Islamic Republic stressed Moscow’s respect for Iran’s territorial integrity and said he would convey the matter to Moscow at the earliest.

On Tuesday Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani rejected the issues raised in the joint statement of the PGCC and Russia.

“These islands belong to Iran eternally and issuing such statements run counter to the friendly relations between Iran and the neighbors,” the spokesman said.

“Stressing the continuation of the policy of good neighborliness and mutual respect, the Islamic Republic of Iran regards the development and stability of the region as a collective responsibility of the regional countries,” he stated.

The islands of the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa have historically been part of Iran, proof of which can be found and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world.

In a statement on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani reacted to the reports of conflict over the Arash joint oil and gas field.

He said delegations from Iran and Kuwait, in their latest round of legal and technical negotiations held at the level of ranking directors of the foreign ministries in Tehran on March 13, discussed the Arash field and the determination of the sea boundaries.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always taken account of the issues relating to the determination of sea boundaries and exploitation of joint hydrocarbon resources by considering the mutual interests and the principle of good neighborliness with all neighbors, including Kuwait,” the spokesman added.

Kanaani stressed that the Iranian administration’s policy is based on dialogue, cooperation and engagement, noting that all bilateral issues are pursued within that framework.

Arash, aka al-Durra, is a strategically important Persian Gulf oil and gas field shared between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia that is again in the news after Kuwaiti officials repeated their fallacious claims while denying Iran its legitimate rights.

The development of this gas field hinges on the resolution of a long-running ownership dispute between the three stakeholders, like some other oil or gas fields in the Persian Gulf region, Press TV reported.

This was confirmed by Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East and Africa, and Deputy Foreign Minister.

“As usual, representatives of observer countries will participate [in the talks]. These include Syria’s neighboring countries of Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan. Our colleagues from UN bodies are also here, namely Mr. Geir Pedersen, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Syria,” Bogdanov informed reporters.

The Astana international meeting on Syria, scheduled for June 20-21, is taking place in the Kazakh capital. The negotiations involve delegations from the guarantor countries – Russia, Iran, and Turkey – as well as representatives from the Syrian government and opposition. Observers from the United Nations, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq are also expected to attend the meeting.

CBI figures released on Monday showed that Iran’s gross domestic product (GDP) had reached 15,154 trillion rials ($409.5 billion) in the year to March 20, up from 14,571.4 trillion rials reported for the year to March 2022.

The CBI uses fixed prices reported in 2016 as a baseline for its GDP calculation. The US dollar was worth an average of 37,000 against the Iranian rial over that year, much lower than a current market price of 480,000 rials.

The CBI said in a short note that growth in Iran’s manufacturing activity was responsible for a major part, around 1.4%, of the rise in the country’s GDP in the year to late March, Press TV reported.

It added that wholesale, retail, motor vehicle maintenance, transportation, petroleum and communications sectors were other best performers of the Iranian economy over the past calendar year.

Figures in the report showed that Iranian oil sector GDP had increased by 10% to 1,272.2 trillion rials in the year to late March.

The non-oil sector of the Iranian economy also expanded by 4.7% over the period compared to the previous year, it said.

Iran recorded its highest quarterly GDP growth in the quarter to late March when the GDP reached 3,596.8 trillion rials, up 5.3% from the same quarter in 2022.

Economic growth figures reported by the CBI and the Statistical Center of Iran have been verified and corroborated by major international economic institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Those institutions have admitted that Iranian government’s economic policies and the fiscal and monetary policies adopted by the CBI have enabled the country to resist the continued pressure of US sanctions.

In a meeting with Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his accompanying delegation in Tehran on Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the common grounds between Iran and Uzbekistan should be used to expand relations in different sectors.

Stressing the importance of expanding relations between Iran and Uzbekistan, the Leader referred to the unparalleled historical, cultural and scientific affinity that exists between the two countries.

Ayatollah Khamenei also expressed satisfaction at the revival of relations between the two countries after a long break. “Unfortunately, for many years the relations between Iran and Uzbekistan were very limited. We hope that this trip and the talks held in Tehran will be the beginning of a better future with regards to the relations between the two countries,” he added.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has the ability to easily connect Uzbekistan to open waters through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. Furthermore, the areas of cooperation (between the two countries) are beyond trade and transportation, and more cooperation can be done with various initiatives in the field of science and technology and in other sectors,” the Leader stated, Khamenei.ir reported.

The Leader then warned that there are some who oppose the idea of Iran and Uzbekistan expanding relations, however, “decisions should be made despite these objections and based on the interests of the two countries. By the same token, cooperation should be expanded as much as possible.”

During the meeting, which was also attended by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Uzbekistan described his meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei as historic.

“We too were upset about the interruption that had occurred in the relations between the two countries as well as the reduction in cooperation. We hope that with the talks that were held in Tehran, we will take great steps and cooperation will reach their proper and desired level in the fields of trade, transportation, science and technology and tourism,” Mirziyoyev said.

Uzbekistan’s president also lauded the Iranian nation for its resistive stance against the sanctions. “The achievements of the Iranian nation, especially in the field of science and technology, which I saw parts of in an exhibition, demonstrate that under the wise guidance of its Leader, a united nation can achieve great goals despite all pressures,” he added.