Daily look at Iran’s late-breaking news and upcoming events:

 
Russian, Iranian top diplomats deny Bolton’s allegations about Syria
Bolton alleges that Putin told him during their meeting in the Kremlin in June 2018 that Moscow was not interested in Iran’s presence in Syria.

 
Iranian President’s ‘Important’ message delivered to Putin: Zarif
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he has delivered an “important” message from Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

 
Iran to use forex reserves held abroad to balance market: President
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani unveiled plans to use the foreign currency reserve assets held in other countries in order to control the currency prices at home.

 
Iran’s FM Zarif talks with Russian President Putin on phone
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday announced that he has had a one-hour phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 
US’ illegitimate presence root cause of regional insecurity: Shamkhani
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani denounced the US’ “illegitimate” presence in the region as the root cause of insecurity, calling for concerted action against Washington’s destabilizing activities.

Foreign forces main source of insecurity in region: Ghalibaf
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the region will not see security as far as foreign forces are present.

 
Iran urges Iraq’s resolute action on Gen. Soleimani assassination
Iran’s First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri called on Iraq to seriously pursue the case of American assassination of top Iranian commander Lt. General Qassem Soleimani.

 
Zarif: Saudi Arabia not interested in equal ties with Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran was ready to establish good relations with Saudi Arabia but unfortunately Riyadh has shown no interest in having equal ties with Tehran.

 
Official: COVID-19 kills 219 more in Iran
Iran’s Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Wednesday that some 219 more Iranians have died from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) over the past 24 hours bringing the total deaths to 14,853.