Tehran, May 13 (IANS/DPA) Iran has shown itself to be open to direct talks with the US and appears to be ready for a change of course in its policy towards its arch-enemy.

“The Americans describe diplomacy as the best option… We are of the same view and are also ready to return to negotiations,” Kamal Kharazi, foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday, according to state news agency ISNA.

According to Kharazi, Iran should also be prepared to resume the nuclear negotiations broken off under then-US president Donald Trump.

“Then we could also talk about a nuclear-free region (in the Middle East),” said the country’s high-ranking adviser and former foreign minister.

The arch-conservative government of President Ebrahim Raisi has until now vehemently and consistently rejected direct contact with the US, which it frequently refers to as the “Great Satan,” since coming to power in Iran in 2021.

According to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran, diplomatic contact with the US only takes place via third countries such as Qatar and Oman and, in some cases, via the European Union. Kharazi’s statements, therefore, indicate a change of course on the part of the Islamic Republic.

However, official representatives of the government have not yet made a statement.

As recently as Thursday, Kharazi had threatened both the US and Israel with a revision of Iran’s nuclear doctrine. Although he justified this again, he added that Iran still does not want to build or use nuclear weapons.

–IANS/DPA

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Jakarta, May 13 (IANS) The Ibu volcano on Halmahera Island in the eastern Indonesian province of North Maluku erupted on Monday at around 9 a.m. local time for about five minutes, throwing ash up to 5,000 metres above its peak, according to the country’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).

“The ash column from its eruption was observed to be grey to black with thick intensity towards the west. When this report was written, the eruption was still ongoing,” said PVMBG, reports Xinhua news agency.

Standing as high as around 1,300 meters above sea level, the Ibu volcano is classified as the third danger level, below the highest, Level IV.

The volcano has erupted more than 80 times since the beginning of this year, PVMBG said, calling on the public not to have activities within a radius of five kilometres from the crater.

Located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, Indonesia is one of the countries with the most volcanoes in the world.

–IANS

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Seoul, May 13 (IANS) South Korea’s Second Vice Health Minister, Park Min-soo, on Monday, said that junior doctors may face a one-year delay in getting medical fellowships unless they return to work by the end of this week.

The prolonged walkouts by some 12,000 trainee doctors, who have left their worksites since February 20 in protest of the government’s push to boost the number of medical students, have caused disruptions in public health services at major hospitals.

The walkouts are also expected to prompt disarray in their careers because junior doctors will not be eligible for next year’s test to become fellow doctors unless they are trained at hospitals for more than three months, Yonhap news agency reported.

“Unless medical residents return to work this week, the timing of obtaining medical fellowships may be delayed by one year in accordance with relevant regulations,” Park told reporters.

“We urge the junior doctors to return to their workplaces and fulfil their duties as doctors to avoid potential disadvantages in their future careers,” Park said.

Officials at the health ministry and the medical community have predicted that trainee doctors must return to hospitals by around May 20 if they want to apply for the test to become fellow doctors.

Park also said the government would provide funds from the national health insurance system to training hospitals, which have been suffering from financial difficulties due to the walkouts.

The Seoul High Court, meanwhile, is widely expected to deliver its verdict by no later than Friday on an injunction filed by the medical community seeking to halt the government’s plan to increase the medical school quota by 2,000.

“The government has submitted documents requested by the court on Friday,” Park said. The move followed the court’s request for data that can back the authorities’ claim that the 2,000-seat increase in the medical school quota was based on scientific grounds.

Meanwhile, the medical community claims that the government made the decision to increase quotas arbitrarily without logical justification and has also accused authorities of mishandling minutes of relevant meetings.

–IANS

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Moscow, May 13 (IANS) Russian armed forces made significant gains in the Kharkiv region after capturing four settlements, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

The units of its North group had made advancements deep into Ukrainian defences, seizing the settlements of Gatyshche, Krasnoye, Morokhovets, and Oleynikovo in the Kharkiv region, the ministry said in a statement, reports Xinhua news agency.

Three Ukrainian brigades suffered heavy losses in the settlements of Degtyarnoye, Volchansk, and Kazachya Lopan in the Kharkiv region, losing up to 100 servicemen, two tanks, an armoured vehicle Kozak and four vehicles, it added.

Russian armed forces have been actively advancing in the Kharkiv region for several days. More than 4,000 people have been evacuated from the region since Russia launched the latest round of missile attacks on Friday, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.

–IANS

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Seoul, May 13 (IANS/DPA) North Korea has warned allies of the US, including Germany, France and Britain, to stop provoking tension in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Foreign Ministry in Pyongyang denounced the “military interference” in the region “under the pretext of monitoring violation of UN sanctions” in a statement carried by state-controlled news agency KCNA on Monday.

North Korea warned Germany, France, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to “immediately stop the provocations of causing tension and instability,” KCNA reported.

“Western countries should ponder over the fact that their unreasonable and blind policy of following the US is an act of harming their own interests.”

Pyongyang would “take necessary measures to firmly defend the sovereignty and security of the state,” the statement said.

In April, the US held a two-day training exercise involving the navies of South Korea and Japan.

Earlier this month, an Australian helicopter surveying North Korea was intercepted by a Chinese warplane in international airspace, while a Canadian plane was intercepted in similar circumstances in October.

Tensions on the peninsula are very high. Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea has significantly increased the scope of its weapons tests, including the testing of nuclear-capable missiles, and has stepped up its rhetoric against the US and South Korea, both of which Pyongyang considers to be enemy states.

–IANS/DPA

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