“Trump makes a surprising overture to Iran at NYC press conference,” Politico, 9-26-24.  Iran’s FM, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, had said Monday at the UN that Iran was open to discussing nuclear negotiations.  Trump says no nuclear weapons.

“Iranians indicted in connection with Trump campaign hack,” Politico, 9-26-24.

“Biden admin offers $20 million reward for info on Iranian charged with plot to kill ex-Trump official John Bolton,” NBC, 9-26-24.  Hey!  Zarif makes an appearance!  “When asked about alleged threats of assassination against American officials, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif told NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell in an interview this week, “We do not assassinate people, but the fact of the matter is — they assassinated a revered Iranian general.””  Soleimani—revered?  Maybe Zarif is speaking of someone else.  But back to the point—the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government has assassinated many persons.  Mitchell should have started naming them.  Let’s start in 1979.

“Iranian President Pezeshkian Checks the Boxes in New York,” Stimson, 9-26-24.  Pres. Pezeshkian has brought back former FM (now VP) Javad Zarif (who has a knack of saying one thing in English in Western arenas and another thing in Farsi back home) and Zarif’s former deputies, Abbas Araghchi, now FM, and Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a former Iran ambassador to the UN and negotiator of the JCPOA.

“Iran, Hezbollah enabled Houthis’ rise, says UN report,” Reuters, 9-26-24.  “The rebel group is transformed into an army with weapons training and assistance provided by other members of Iran’s axis despite a de facto UN embargo on arms since 2015.”