Iran FM to visit Turkey on Friday for talks on US tensions – Reuters

The United States said it was deeply concerned by reports that a 19-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, Saleh Mohammadi, faces imminent execution, and urged Tehran to halt the sentence.

Iranian security forces arrested Mohammadi, a freestyle wrestler from the city of Qom, on Jan. 15.

“The United States is deeply concerned by reports about Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old wrestling champion, who is facing imminent execution,” the US State Department’s Persian-language account said in a post on X.

It called on Iran to stop the execution of Mohammadi and others sentenced to death for seeking what it described as their basic rights, adding that Iran’s authorities were “killing the youth and destroying Iran’s future.”

US President Donald Trump is weighing options against Iran aimed at creating conditions for “regime change,” including targeted strikes on security forces and leaders, two US sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

The sources said Trump wanted to inspire protesters after a crackdown crushed a nationwide protest movement earlier this month. Options under review included strikes on commanders and institutions Washington holds responsible for the violence, to give protesters confidence they could challenge the state, they said.

One source said advisers were also discussing a broader strike with lasting impact, possibly against Iran’s ballistic missile forces or nuclear enrichment facilities. Trump has not yet made a final decision, another source said.

Trump urged Iran last week to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons, warning that any future US attack would be more severe than previous strikes, and describing US warships moving into the region as an “armada,” Reuters reported.

Lufthansa and its affiliated carriers said they will extend the cancellation of night flights to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport through Feb. 3 due to the situation in the Middle East.

The Lufthansa Group, which includes SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, has been operating all Tel Aviv services as daytime flights since Jan. 15 and had planned to do so through Jan. 31 amid concerns over possible hostilities involving Iran.

The airline group said some canceled night flights would be rescheduled to daytime hours to ease travel for passengers, adding that flight crews would not remain overnight in Israel during the period.

Kayhan, a hardline Iranian newspaper overseen by a representative of Iran’s supreme leader, said Iran has a right to close the Strait of Hormuz and argued such a move would be legal under international law.

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz is our legitimate right,” Kayhan wrote. “This action is both legal and revolutionary.”

The newspaper said Western assertions that any Iranian action in the strait would breach international rules were part of “Western propaganda,” adding that a review of international conventions showed Iran had “full legal justification” to block the waterway.

Kayhan said decisions on whether passage through the strait was harmless rested with Iran as the coastal state, arguing that tankers linked to countries pressuring Tehran could not be considered “innocent passage.”

“If Iran cannot export its oil, no country in the Persian Gulf will be able to export its oil,” the paper said, calling the option of closing the strait a strategic and rational response to US pressure.

Iranian officials have repeatedly warned in the past that Tehran could disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy supplies, if it comes under severe pressure.

Iran is open to talks with the United States if negotiations are "genuine," the speaker of Iran’s parliament said, warning that Tehran would retaliate if it came under attack, according to an interview broadcast by CNN.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told CNN that Iran was ready to negotiate but questioned Washington’s intent. “We are ready for talks, but I do not think that is the kind of talk the president of the United States is after; he just wants to impose his will,” he said.

Speaking amid a buildup of US forces in the Middle East, Ghalibaf warned that Iran would respond to any military action. “Maybe Mr. Trump can start a war, but he doesn’t have control over how it ends,” he said.

Ghalibaf blamed foreign actors for unrest in Iran and said authorities would pursue those responsible for killing security personnel during the protests, while also pointing to US sanctions as a major cause of Iran’s economic problems, CNN reported.