Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, July 30

TEHRAN– The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has recently arrested a citizen of Sweden for “espionage” charges, the ministry announced in a statement on Saturday. TEHRAN– At least 59 people have been killed in recent flash floods in different parts of Iran, an official from Iran’s Red Crescent Society said on Saturday. TEHRAN– Iran’s achievements in the nuclear…

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr started on Saturday an open sit-in inside the Iraqi parliament building in central Baghdad, while his political opponents called on their supporters to prepare for a counter-protest.

“The people choose the open sit-in in the parliament,” Ibrahim al-Jaberi, head of al-Sadr’s office, wrote on his Facebook page. (Iraq-Protest-Parliament)

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TEHRAN — The Iranian Intelligence Ministry has recently arrested a citizen of Sweden for “espionage” charges, the ministry announced in a statement on Saturday.

The detainee had some “suspicious behavior and communication during his previous multiple trips to Iran,” according to the statement.(Iran-Sweden-Espionage-Suspect)

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TEHRAN — At least 59 people have been killed in recent flash floods in different parts of Iran, an official from Iran’s Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said on Saturday.

Yaqub Soleimani, secretary general of the IRCS, told the official IRNA news agency that 30 other people are still missing in the floods that started last week.(Iran-Floods-Death Toll)

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TEHRAN — Iran’s achievements in the nuclear industry is a leverage for the Iranian negotiators in the talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, Pejman Shirmardi, deputy of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said on Saturday.

The achievements of the AEOI, including the production of 60-percent enriched uranium and the launch of IR-6 centrifuges, are the “winning card” of the Iranian negotiating team, Shirmardi told the official IRNA news agency.(Iran-Nuclear Deal-Leverage) Enditem