An Iranian warship on Saturday repulsed an attack by pirates against two oil tankers that it was escorting in the Gulf of Aden, the country's naval chief said.

Iran's only nuclear power plant has been brought back online, its manager said early Monday, after two weeks off-grid amid a power shortage and rolling blackouts across the Islamic republic

Iran's parliament speaker said on Sunday that a three-month monitoring deal between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog had expired as of Saturday, Iran's state TV reported, adding that the agency would no longer access images of nuclear sites.

Iran's state television on Saturday identified a man it said was behind a recent explosion and power outage at its main Natanz nuclear plant.

Three people were killed and nearly 1,900 injured celebrating Iran's traditional fire festival in the runup to this weekend's Persian New Year, emergency services said Wednesday.

Iran must refrain from any provocation as Washington steps up efforts to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, the head of US forces in the Middle East told AFP.

Iran will "immediately reverse" actions in its nuclear programme when US sanctions are lifted, its foreign minister said on Friday, reiterating Tehran's position on Washington's offer to revive talks.

North Korea and Iran resumed cooperation on the development of long-range missiles in 2020, according to a UN report that also confirmed Pyongyang continues to violate various nuclear resolutions.

Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Frea vessels over suspected illegal fuel transfers off the country's waters.

Iran's Supreme Leader on Friday banned the government from importing Covid-19 vaccines from the United States and Britain, labelling the Western powers "untrustworthy", as the infection spreads in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country.

HE the Director of Public Security, Staff Major General Saad bin Jassim al-Khulaifi on Wednesday met Iran ambassador Hamid Reza Dehghani and Indian ambassador Dr Deepak Mittal.

Iran, Jordan and Morocco have recorded thousands of new Covid-19 infections in recent days, the World Health Organization said Thursday, warning that lockdowns could not stamp out the pandemic.