Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says a letter written to the UN chief by three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is aimed at hiding their “miserable incompetence” in fulfilling their commitments under the accord.

Iraqis have taken to the streets of the capital, Baghdad, in a show of support for the country’s religious authority, who has demanded peaceful anti-government protesters distance themselves from saboteurs.