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ISTANBUL An Iranian opposition leader living under house arrest has ended his hunger strike after authorities agreed to lift some restrictions and consider his demand for a public trial, a family member said Thursday. The decision marked a potentially rare concession from a government generally resistant to public pressure.

Mehdi Karroubi, 79, one of the unofficial leaders of Irans pro-reform Green Movement, began his hunger strike Wednesday to protest his six years of confinement. He demanded that the intelligence officers stationed inside his home be removed and that Irans hard-line judiciary set a date for his trial. He has not been formally charged with a crime.

The former speaker of parliament has been restricted to his home in Tehran, the capital, since 2011, when authorities censured him and other opposition figures for the popular protests that rattled the regime two years earlier. Fellow reformists Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, were placed under house arrest at the same time.

Karroubi, who has a heart condition, was hospitalized in Tehran early Thursday for low blood pressure less than 24 hours after beginning his hunger strike, relatives said. Rights groups have reported that Hossein and Rahnavard are also suffering from poor health.

Any decline in Karroubis health would have been an embarrassment for the government, which analysts said hoped to either ignore his situation or quietly resolve his detention.

Both Karroubi and Mousavi were candidates in the 2009 presidential election that observers say was marred by widespread fraud. The two reformists challenged the victory of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hard-liner and favorite of Irans security establishment, and helped galvanize protests across Iran.

Since then, moderate President Hassan Rouhani has vowed to secure the release of all three, including during his reelection campaign in May. He has reportedly faced substantial pushback from hard-liners within the regime who object to the release, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of the state. Irans hard-liners often refer to the 2009 protests as the sedition.

Karroubis son, Mohammad Karroubi, posted on Twitter and told local media that the government had agreed to remove the dozen or so security officers from inside the clerics home. Mehdi Karroubi's demand for a public trial is also reportedly under consideration, his son said, with Rouhani working behind the scenes.

In my view this will never happen, said Nader Hashemi, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Denver, because a public trial would put the Islamic Republic of Iran on trial for its egregious human rights record and legacy of authoritarianism.

All three figures remain popular in Iran, especially among young people and intellectuals, and they enjoy support among reformists and moderate conservatives within the establishment, Hashemi said. The fact that the regime has caved in and granted Karroubi his first demand suggests that they are feeling the pressure both from within Iran and globally, Hashemi said. But the regime is in a bind.

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran warned earlier Thursday that Karroubis life is in danger and the state, which has detained him without trial, is responsible for whatever happens to him while he is in custody.

According to Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, if Karroubi had died under house arrest, Rouhani would have much to atone for.

The presidents supporters tragically believed that Rouhani was interested in or could further social and political reform in the Islamic Republic, Taleblu said. The imprisoned and ailing Green Movement leaders will continue to be yet another political football in Irans domestic political game.

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Iranian opposition leader ends hunger strike after government agrees to relax house arrest - Washington Post

The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, the US, and other world powers was sealed officially at the UN in the form of a resolution in the Security Council. The UN has also become the primary dueling ground for the two main parties to air their grievances.

The US last month approved a set of sanctions against Tehran, aimed at its missile program and support for terrorism, a move that officials and members of Congress have said is separate from the nuclear deal. But on Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the sanctions violate the spirit of the deal.

Rouhani's speech has been taken as a warning that Iran will withdraw unilaterally from the deal, known by the acronym JPCOA, should US sanctions move forward. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley swiftly fired off a statement condemning Rouhani's words.

Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage," Haley said on Tuesday. "Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons. At the same time, however, we must also continue to hold Iran responsible for its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of UN Security Council resolutions. The nuclear deal must not become too big to fail.

Now the Iranian mission to the UN is firing back hard. In a statement first provided to BuzzFeed News on Friday, Iranian Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo said that Haley's statement was "devoid of any shred of truth."

"Instead of distorting the recent remarks of President Rouhani, the U.S. Ambassador should heed the lessons of history and counsel some of the U.S. administration officials to avoid repeating past mistakes," the statement continued. "The hard-line and parochial positions adopted by certain senior U.S. officials against Iran could further exacerbate instability in the region."

The statement also claims that Iran is a stabilizing force in the region, an assessment that many independent analysts would have trouble agreeing with. The country is currently fighting against ISIS in Iraq and Syria via a set of Shia militias, but is also propping up Syria's dictator Bashar al-Assad.

President Donald Trump meanwhile is known to not be a fan of the the Iran nuclear deal, which he has repeatedly referred to as one of the "worst deals in history" both on the campaign trail and while in office. In approving the deal, the US Congress requires the White House to confirm every 90 days that Iran is in compliance. Trump signed off on the deal in July, but he's made clear in later interviews that he wants his advisers to do their best to ensure that Iran is found to have violated the deal when the next period of review comes around in October.

The JPCOA does include a mechanism by which its members can bring grievances before a neutral body. Neither the United States nor Iran has invoked this provision at this time.

The 15th August press statement by the U.S. Ambassador to the UN on Iran is devoid of any shred of truth. The rhetoric and baseless accusations against Iran contained therein represent the latest examples of a series of provocative words, outright threats and irresponsible actions from some senior officials of the U.S. administration in demonizing Iran and undermining the JCPOA inconsistent with the U.S. commitments under paragraph 28 of the nuclear deal.

Instead of distorting the recent remarks of President Rouhani, the U.S. Ambassador should heed the lessons of history and counsel some of the U.S. administration officials to avoid repeating past mistakes. President Rouhani, in his remarks on 15 August, stressed that "Iran lives up to its JCPOA commitments and would proportionately respond to any violation of the JCPOA by other participants. Those who attempt to revert to language of sanction and threat, are prisoners of their past delusions, and by fearmongering and antagonizing they would only deprive themselves from the benefits of peace."

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Iran Says Nikki Haley's Statement On Sanctions Is "Devoid Of Any Shred Of Truth" - BuzzFeed News

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak says Iran can start within next month the deliveries of crude oil to Russia under the "oil-for-goods" program.

The arrangement dates back to 2014 when Iran tried to boost vital energy exports in the face of intensified Western sanctions. At the time, it was said that Moscow and Tehran were discussing a barter deal that would see Moscow buy up to 500,000 barrels a day (bpd) of Iranian oil in exchange for Russian equipment and goods.

Novak has said the two sides were discussing sales of 100,000 bpd of Iranian oil to Russia, with supplies being either physical or swap-based.

"We are finalizing the last details of regulatory documents. I think I will respond to your question within one month," he told reporters on the sidelines of an international fair in the Turkish city of Izmir on Friday.

The initial arrangement was for swapping around 300,000 bpd via the Caspian Sea and the rest from the Persian Gulf, possibly Bandar Abbas port.

Novaks remarks came after Iranian officials confirmed that the country had resumed Caspian oil swap after seven years.

On Friday, Hamid Hosseini at the Iranian Oil Pipeline and Telecommunication Company said Iran was ready to swap 500,000 bpd of oil with its Caspian Sea neighbors.

The swap arrangement was halted during the tenure of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as authorities questioned its economic merits. The average daily swap was 90,000 bpd in 2009, which Iran planned to raise to 300,000 by 2015.

The swaps meant Tehran could supply northern areas with oil processed at the Tehran, Tabriz, and Arak refineries without having to transport it all the way from wells in the south. Iran also charged the partners with a transit fee which totaled $880 million between 1997 and 2009, according to the local media.

Earlier this week, media reports said the Russian-flagged VF Tanker-20 discharged around 6,000 tonnes of Turkmen origin crude oil at a terminal in the Caspian port of Neka on Aug. 3. It was reportedly the second by VF Tanker-20 this month to Neka for the discharge of oil from Turkmenistan.

According to Hosseini, a 272-km pipeline has been built to ship crude oil from the Neka terminal to the Tehran refinery.

Under the swap deals, refineries in Tehran and Tabriz use the swapped oil, while Iran delivers the same amount it receives via the Kharq oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.

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The United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) says more than 500,000 children in Libya are in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance.

The UN agency notes that migrant children passing through Libya are especially at risk of abuse.

Competing governments have sought to control the North African country since the fall of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in October of 2011. There is no sign the fighting, displacement of people and economic problems will end anytime soon.

Libya is a stopping point for African migrants on their way to Europe. Many go there in hopes of finding a boat to take them across the Mediterranean Sea.

But UN officials say the crisis in Libya has affected a large number of children. Geert Cappelaere is UNICEFs regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

In Libya, we estimate today a third of the population is under the age of 18, he said. Two million children do live in Libya of which a quarter 500,000 are estimated by UNICEF to be facing dire humanitarian need.

Cappelelaere says conditions in Libya have affected children in many ways.

The access to schools has been hampered. But (this) also, definitely, has affected the quality of the education children are having, he says. We have important numbers of children usually in conflict situations that have been suffering of a type of social consequences of the conflict. Children that have been separated from their families.

UNICEF says 315,000 children in Libya need help getting an education. In addition, the group says 200,000 need access to safe drinking water.

Adding to the difficulties are tens of thousands of migrants from countries south of the Sahara desert. They are fleeing conflict, drought and poor economic conditions. Many have crossed the desert with the goal of reaching Europe.

However, crossing the Mediterranean usually involves working with smugglers, who often put too many people into small, weak boats.

The International Organization for Migration reports that about 117,000 migrants have arrived in Europe this year. However, the group also notes that more than 2,400 have died trying to get there.

Cappelaere says migrant children face many dangers.

We see an important number of these children arriving in Libya separated from their families, says Cappelaere. Being unaccompanied. We know that several hundred of these children have ended up and are ending in detention facilities.

The aid group Oxfam is made up of many charitable organizations. On August 9, Oxfam released a report about the problems facing migrants leaving Libya. The report presents migrant stories of killings, rape, torture and detention in Libya.

In one example, a Senegalese teenager was reported to have said he was kept in a room that was full of dead bodies.

Cappelaere says the children of migrants often face abuse.

Children are, of course, very much exposed to violence and exploitation by those who are trying to make big money out of the migration crisis. So, children who are affected by migration are indeed particularly vulnerable, he said.

However, the UNICEF official says there have been some successes in Libya. About 1.4 million children have been vaccinated against polio by UNICEF and its partners, including some Libyan national groups.

Cappelaere praises the health workers in Libya, especially those who continue working after their medical centers have been attacked.

UNICEF plans to have all its international staff working full-time in Libya by October. The crisis had forced many workers to leave or operate out of Tunisia.

Cappelaere says the increase in workers would permit UNICEF to assist 1.5 million children. But, he notes, the agency needs additional money to carry on its work. He says UNICEF has asked for $15 million for Libya this year, but remains about six million dollars away from that goal.

Im Mario Ritter.

Joe De Capua reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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migrant n. people who move from place to place, usually for economic reasons

dire adj. causing fear or worry

hamper v. to interfere with, to slow down

access n. permission or ability to enter or use something

consequences n. results of some action

smuggler n. someone who takes things or people from one country to another secretly or illegally

unaccompanied adj. not with anyone else, alone

facilities n. building or equipment used for a specific purpose

vulnerable -adj. easily hurt emotionally or physically

staff n. the workers responsible for the operations of an agency or business

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UN Officials: Libyan Unrest Harming Children - VOA Learning English