Third round of Iran-US talks begin in Geneva

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Israeli military strikes in eastern Lebanon killed a Syrian teenager on Thursday, the Lebanese health ministry reported, while the Israeli army said it had struck eight compounds belonging to an elite Hezbollah unit.

"Israeli enemy air strikes on the Bekaa this evening resulted, according to an initial toll, in the killing of a 16-year-old Syrian boy and the injury of another person," the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement.

US and Iranian officials returned Thursday evening to the Geneva location where their high-stakes indirect nuclear talks were due to resume, a diplomatic source told AFP.

AFP journalists saw convoys of cars belonging to US and Iranian diplomatic missions arriving back at the residence of Oman's ambassador before 1700 GMT following a break of several hours after an initial round of discussions on Thursday morning.

A fire broke out at an industrial complex in Iran's southern city of Abadan, state media reported on Thursday, saying initial reports indicate the incident took place at a plastic raw materials factory.

A convoy of Iranian diplomats has arrived at the location of the third round of nuclear talks with the US, according to AP.

Israel's actions in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip seem aimed at creating "permanent demographic change", UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday.

"Taken together, Israel's actions appear aimed at making a permanent demographic change in Gaza and the West Bank, raising concerns about ethnic cleansing", Turk said in a speech before the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Turk pointed in particular to an ongoing, year-long Israeli military operation in the West Bank's north that has caused the displacement of 32,000 Palestinians.

Israel has launched airstrikes on Bekaa's Chmestar district, including three on Hrebta and one on Bodai, according to L'Orient Le Jour.

Israel's Arabic Language Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the strikes were against Hezbollah infrastructure.

A complaint has been filed in Switzerland accusing Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi of crimes against humanity linked to anti-government protests in his country in recent years, lawyers said Thursday.

The complaint, filed by an Iranian-Swiss citizen, said Gharibabadi "may have committed serious crimes contrary to international law" linked to protests over the death of a woman in custody, the lawyers said, demanding the arrest of the deputy minister who has been in Geneva this week.

Iranian and US delegations have held consultations with their respective capitals during a pause in Thursday's talks which will resume around 1700 GMT, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said.

"Both delegations needed to carry out consultations with their respective capitals," Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV, adding that "the talks will resume around 17:30 or 18:00 pm local time," around 1630 to 1700 GMT.

A senior Iranian official speaking to Reuters said that the talks with the US in Geneva said that reaching a deal framework is possible if the US 'seriously separates nuclear and non-nuclear issues'.

The official added that the talks raised new ideas that require consultation with Tehran, with some gaps remaining, whilst describing them as having been intense and serious.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that Israel and India agreed there was "no place for terrorism in the world", as he wrapped up a two-day visit aimed at strengthening ties with Israel.

"India and Israel are clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world, in any form... We will oppose it shoulder to shoulder. We will always oppose it in the future," Modi said at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

"Humanity must never become a victim of conflict," he added.

A French court on Thursday sentenced Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari to one year in prison for justifying terrorism in a case linked to a possible prisoner swap with two French citizens held in Iran.

Esfandiari, 39, was also handed a permanent ban from French territory, according to an AFP journalist present at the court.

Observers see Esfandiari as a potential bargaining chip in negotiations with Tehran for the release of French nationals Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who are detained in Iran.

An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the territory's health officials said, and the Israeli military said it killed what it claims was a "militant" who allegedly posed a threat to its forces in the south of the enclave.

Medics said an Israeli airstrike against a group of Palestinians in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood killed two people and wounded several others. The Israeli military didn't immediately comment on the report.

Separately, the Israeli military said forces operating in the southern Gaza Strip killed a "militant" who allegedly posed an imminent threat to them, claiming he had crossed into an area still occupied by Israel inside the enclave.

It described the incident as a violation of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began last October.

A UN flight landed at Khartoum airport on Thursday, the first since Sudan's nearly three-year war began, said the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the country, calling it a "big deal" for aid workers trying to reach millions in need.

"I'd like to reiterate how pleased I am to have taken the first United Nations Humanitarian Air Service flight to Khartoum in three years, so it's a big deal for the humanitarian community", Denise Brown said after stepping off the aircraft.

Oman's foreign minister says indirect Iran-US talks to resume later Thursday as "we hope to make more progress".

UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi has joined the new round of indirect talks taking place Thursday between Iran and the United States in Geneva, a source close to the talks told AFP.

An Iranian state TV reporter also said that Grossi had "joined the talks, effectively serving as a technical observer who can help advance the discussions more precisely and seriously".

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, sent to the Mediterranean this week in a military build-up to put pressure on Iran, left a naval base in Crete Thursday, an AFP photographer said.

Its departure came as a new round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran on the latter's nuclear programme, mediated by Oman's foreign minister, opened in Geneva Thursday morning.

The vessel has been at the US Naval Support Activity Souda Bay base in Crete since Monday. The US embassy in Athens has declined to comment on the carrier's presence, forwarding questions to the Pentagon in Washington.

Washington has more than a dozen warships in the Middle East: one aircraft carrier - the USS Abraham Lincoln - nine destroyers, and three other combat ships.

It is rare for there to be two US aircraft carriers, which carry dozens of warplanes and are crewed by thousands of sailors, in the Middle East.

The Syrian government and Druze factions controlling the southern city of Suweida on Thursday carried out their first prisoner exchange since deadly clashes in the predominantly Druze city last summer, according to the Syrian government's Suweida media office.

The swap involved Damascus releasing 61 prisoners from the Druze factions detained in Adra Central Prison near the capital, in return for the Druze's National Guard Forces freeing 25 Syrian government personnel, the media office said.

Oman said Thursday that Iran and the United States expressed openness to new solutions as indirect talks between the two foes began in Geneva.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said "negotiators demonstrated unprecedented openness to new and creative ideas and solutions", according to a foreign ministry statement released after his meeting with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

A third round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran, mediated by Oman's foreign minister, opened in Geneva on Thursday morning, a diplomatic source told AFP.

The convoys carrying the delegations for the US and Iran have arrived at the Omani residence in Geneva for talks, according to the Associated Press.

United Nations nuclear chief Rafael Grossi will likely attend the third round of talks on Thursday between Iran and the United States, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said.

"It is also likely that the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency will join these talks, as was the case in the previous round," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told state TV.

Iran enters the third round of indirect nuclear talks with the US with "seriousness and flexibility", foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Press TV on Thursday, adding that negotiations will only focus on nuclear topics and sanctions removal.