Nearly 50 Republicans in the US Congress have renewed an effort to halt a return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by preventing the Biden administration from lifting sanctions on Tehran.

State-organised demonstrations to counter nationwide anti-government protests triggered by the death of a woman in police custody kicked off in several Iranian cities on Friday, with marchers calling for the execution of rioters.

Protests in Iran over the killing of a young Kurdish woman for not wearing her headscarf properly continued to spread on Thursday, despite an increasingly brutal crackdown from the theocratic regime.

Iran, Russia and China will hold joint naval exercises in the northern Indian Ocean “this autumn,” Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Other countries including Oman and Pakistan may also join the drills, Mehr cited Iranian Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri as saying, without giving further details.

The northern Indian Ocean extends to the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the export of oil to world markets.

The US is locked in endless proxy war with Russia over Ukraine.

The US is locked in rapid escalation with China leading to possible war over Taiwan.

The US is locked in a collision course with Iran over their imaginary nuclear program that could blow up the Middle East.

I’ve not been as concerned about the world stumbling into nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis, 60 years ago next month. A high school senior then, I worried about being denied a long life. Now, at 77, I fret more about my children and grandkids being denied that privilege.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday and said his country is serious about reviving the nuclear deal and questioned the US commitment to the agreement.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday said Iran was attempting to “buy” Lebanon by having it rely on the Hezbollah terror group for fuel and repairing the country’s failing power network.

“Iran, through Hezbollah, is trying to buy Lebanon by supplying fuel, repairing the electricity system and building power plants,” Gantz said at an event in the northern town of Katzrin.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called Israel a “savage power” and insisted his country’s nuclear program is peaceful in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

Raisi further said the US had trampled the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. He also vowed to obtain justice for the US assassination of Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general killed by a drone strike in 2020.