As tens of thousands return to the streets for the first national Palestine march of 2026, this movement refuses to be sidelined or silenced, says PETER LEARY
SINCE early December 2021, Vienna has been host to high-level negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran, the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and the EU, in an effort to avert a devastating new war in the Middle East.
The negotiations to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) began last April but halted at the sixth round in June due to the presidential elections in Iran and the subsequent change of administration.
Iran has opposed the official participation of the US delegation — headed by Joe Biden’s special envoy on Iran, Robert Malley — in the negotiations, though it essentially wants the immediate removal of crippling US sanctions.
The Committee for the Defence of Iranian People’s Rights (Codir) welcomes demonstrations across Iran, which have put pressure upon the theocratic dictatorship, but warns against intervention by the United States to force Iran in a particular direction
Payam Solhtalab talks to GAWAIN LITTLE, general secretary of Codir, about the connection between the struggle for peace, against banking and economic sanctions, and the threat of a further military attack by the US/Israel axis on Iran



