JD Vance: Progress Made In Talks With Iran
US Vice President JD Vance announced that Washington believes "progress" has been made in negotiations with Iran, but it is not yet clear whether this progress has met Donald Trump's red line.
Vance told reporters at the White House on May 13 that he had discussed Iran that morning with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the US president's envoys in peace talks, and had also been in contact with Arab officials.
"The question is whether that progress is enough to meet the president’s red line," he said.
According to Vance, Trump's "red line" is for the United States to ensure that "a number of protections" are in place to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
Vance's comments come after Trump had previously described Iran's new proposal in the negotiations as "totally unacceptable."
Iran and the United States held their first direct talks in Islamabad shortly after announcing a two-week cease-fire on April 8. Vance and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament and Tehran's top negotiator, led the US and Iranian delegations, respectively, at the talks.
Those talks ended without reaching a conclusion. President Trump then extended the cease-fire with Iran, without announcing a deadline. Afterwards, on his orders, US military forces in the region began a naval blockade of Iran, which is still ongoing.
Iran Says It Executed January Protester For 'Murdering Security Officer'
Iran's judiciary announced on May 13, that Mohammad Abbasi, a protester arrested during the mass nationwide demonstrations that took place in January, has been executed on charges of murdering a security officer.
The judiciary's Mizan news agency said that he was "executed in retribution for the killing" after the verdict was confirmed by the Supreme Court.
The HRANA news website, which covers human rights news in Iran from the United States, reported that Abbasi had been executed at the Qezl-e-Hesar Prison on the morning of May 13.
Citing a source close to the prisoner's family, HRANA wrote that prison officials had given Abbasi's family the chance to visit him in prison, but when they arrived, "this opportunity was denied to his relatives. After the Abbasi family left prison, they were informed in a phone call that Mohammad Abbasi's death sentence had been carried out."
Shortly after the violent crackdown on protests on January 8-9 by security forces, the judiciary released images of Abbasi's court session.
During the trial, he was accused of murdering a security force member in the city of Mallard.
The Etemad newspaper wrote in its report on the hearing that Abbasi's lawyer stated in court that the victim had suffered numerous blows, not all of which were inflicted with the defendant's weapon.
On May 13, Mizan identified the victim as Lieutenant Colonel Shahin Dehghani and claimed he had been beaten and killed with "various types of weapons and stones."
The time of the incident was announced as January 7, the day before the most intense protest rallies in several cities in the country.
The Iranian judiciary also announced on May 13 that Ehsan Afrashte, who was imprisoned on charges of "spying for Israel," had also been executed.
Israel Says Netanyahu Traveled To UAE During Iran War
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced on May 13 that Benjamin Netanyahu had "secretly" traveled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Netanyahu met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, according to the statement.
"This visit led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates," the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said.
Previously, senior US officials had confirmed Israel sent an "Iron Dome" defense system to the UAE along with forces to operate it during the war with Iran.
Also, according to UAE officials and an informed source who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to the UAE at least twice during the war with Iran to discuss coordination related to the conflict.
The UAE is one of the few Arab countries to have diplomatic relations with Israel, relations that were formally established in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords. These agreements are considered one of the most important foreign policy achievements of US President Donald Trump, as well as Benjamin Netanyahu.
How The War In Iran Is Shaping The Trump-Xi Summit
The Iran war and its global ripple effects are a through line influencing many of the issues that the two leaders will discuss in Beijing, from rare earth minerals to Taiwan.
Lego, Hip-Hop, And Deepfakes: How Iran Uses AI To Shape Western Opinion
From viral Lego-style videos and AI-generated hip-hop tracks to fabricated battlefield imagery, the war in Iran is revealing how artificial intelligence (AI) is being weaponized in modern warfare and statecraft.
To discuss this rapid shift, RFE/RL spoke with Max Lesser, senior analyst on emerging threats at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation.
"Iran has become increasingly sophisticated in its online influence operations," Lesser says. "There's definitely been a big shift. The AI Lego videos are probably one of the most successful propaganda efforts that I've ever seen come out of Iran targeting foreign audiences."
To read the full interview, click here.
CENTCOM Says Allowed 15 Aid Ships Allowed Through Naval Blockade
Marking a month since the United States began its naval blockade of Iranian Ports, the US Central Command, CENTCOM, announced that 15 ships carrying humanitarian aid have been allowed to pass since the operation began.
"Four weeks ago, CENTCOM began implementing the blockade against ships entering and exiting Iran’s ports. As of today, American forces have redirected 67 commercial vessels, allowed 15 supporting humanitarian aid to pass, and disabled 4 to ensure compliance," CENTCOM said in a post on X on May 13.
"Earlier this week, CENTCOM forces ensured that 2 commercial vessels turned around to comply with the blockade after communicating via radio and firing warning shots from small arms, clearly demonstrating that U.S. enforcement remains in full effect," it added.
Prominent Rights Lawyer Sotoudeh Released On Bail
Mehraveh Khandan, the daughter of human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, has said that her mother has been temporarily released on bail.
Khandan posted the news on Instagram on May 13.
Sotoudeh, a Sakharov Prize laureate and human rights lawyer, was arrested on April 1 at her home in Tehran. She has faced repeated arrests and imprisonments for her activism defending women’s rights, political prisoners, and against the death penalty.
In mid February, before the start of the Iran war on February 28, she had called for “humanitarian intervention” to protect the Iranian people in an interview with the French-language magazine Le Point.
Reza Khandan, a human rights activist and Sotoudeh's husband, has been imprisoned in Evin Prison since 2024. He is known for his work in opposing the mandatory hijab and death penalty.
Who Holds Power In Iran?
Power has become increasingly decentralized in Iran following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the selection of his son as the new supreme leader. So, who holds power in the Islamic republic now?
Radio Farda correspondent Vahid Pourostad looks at the key power centers and figures that have emerged in what some observers have called the Islamic republic 3.0.
Trump Lands In Beijing As Iran War Casts Shadow Over China Summit
US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on May 13 for a closely watched summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as the war in Iran and its fallout on global energy markets loom over efforts to stabilize ties between the world's two largest economies.
Trump, making his first trip to China since 2017, will begin two days of formal talks with Xi on May 14. While trade tensions, Taiwan, artificial intelligence, and rare earth exports are expected to dominate the agenda, the ongoing conflict in Iran and the near paralysis of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have added urgency -- and complexity -- to the meeting.
Speaking before departing Washington, Trump downplayed suggestions that Beijing could play a decisive role in ending the war.
"I don't think we need any help with Iran," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 12. "We'll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise."
To read the full report, click here.
Women Bear The Brunt Of Iran's Internet Blackout As 'Parallel Labor Market' Collapses
An editor at a Tehran publishing house, an online yoga instructor, and a rural mother who sells homemade food via Instagram are just three of many Iranian women whose livelihoods have been ruined by their country’s ongoing Internet blackout .
Three Internet shutdowns in Iran in recent months -- including the current blackout, the longest on record -- have dealt a devastating blow to the economy. And in many cases, it is women who are feeling the impact most.
A yoga teacher in Tehran told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that Internet restrictions had prevented her from holding online classes, depriving her of her only source of income.
“I was just learning to stand on my own feet, but I can’t afford reliable VPN access. It’s too expensive and doesn’t work properly,” the young woman said. For her own safety, she cannot be named because RFE/RL is banned in Iran.
“I’m lucky because I live with my parents, but I know colleagues who can no longer pay their rent,” she added.
“With the war and the Internet shutdown, life has stopped for many,” she said, describing the digital blackout as “torture.”
The Islamic republic imposed the latest Internet shutdown on February 28 amid US and Israeli attacks on the country.
Although Washington and Tehran reached a fragile cease-fire on April 8, Internet access has still not been fully restored, leaving citizens in digital darkness for more than two months. Only those who can afford expensive anti-filtering tools -- along with individuals granted state-approved access -- are able to get online.
Read more here