Rooyesh

When Iranian agents boarded an airplane that made an emergency landing in Tehran, the only Israeli passenger on board feared the worst. Instead, he left with a gift of a wooden music box and an invitation to return when times are better. Israeli scientist Benny Medvedev told Israeli media that he spent several harrowing hours in Tehran over the weekend after the Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to India made two emergency landings due to mechanical problems. Israel and Iran are staunch enemies and have no diplomatic relations.

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When I found out that my husband and I had been invited to a gender-segregated wedding reception in Tehran, it was too late to concoct an excuse. So for the first time in my life, I put on a chiffon gown to go hang out with 400 other women. I waved goodbye to my husband as he headed for the men’s ballroom, and we agreed that if the evening grew intolerable, we would send text messages to plan our escape.

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The world’s big powers have signalled they are willing to adopt a more flexible approach in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme as soon as Tehran has sat down at the negotiating table. The gesture comes ahead of an expected meeting this week between Ali Larijani, Iran’s top security official, and Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, in an attempt to restart the diplomatic process.

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