‘Reply to US curbs on Iran will not be pleasant’

Iran’s possible response to new US sanctions could “not be pleasant”, its foreign minister said on Sunday, raising the prospect of tit- for- tat retribution against the Islamic Republic’s old adversary weeks ahead of fresh nuclear talks.

Iranian leaders reacted with dismay to Friday’s announcement that Washington was going to penalise a number of Iranian and other foreign companies, banks and airlines for violating sanctions against Tehran, most of which are tied to a decade- old dispute about its nuclear programme.

Washington said the moves were a signal that there would be no let- up of sanctions while international talks were underway to ease the economic measures in exchange for Iran’s agreement to curb its nuclear activities. Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian ends only and denies allegations from the West that it may want to develop nuclear weapons. On Saturday President Hassan Rouhani said the new curbs were unconstructive and against the spirit of the talks, adding he was not pessimistic.

Ultra- Orthodox Jewish men pray during a protest against any plans to make them undergo military service in Jerusalem on Sunday. In 2013, the Israeli Cabinet agreed to end a practice under which tens of thousands of ultra- Orthodox men were exempted...