Briefly

IRAN

Websites seizure 'not constructive' for talks

Teheran warned on Wednesday the US seizure of websites run by Iran-linked media was "not constructive" for ongoing talks on bringing Washington back into a landmark nuclear deal. The United States on Tuesday seized dozens of websites used by Iranian news outlets for alleged violation of sanctions. A statement by the Justice Department said 33 websites were taken down. The websites of the Iranian state-owned news channel Press TV and Al-Alam were among those being blocked, while both are running again later in the day by using Iranian domains. The move came one day after Iran's President-elect Ebrahim Raisi urged the US to lift "all unjust sanctions" against Iran and ruled out a meeting with US President Joe Biden.