AP PHOTOS: Life in Iran's capital, Tehran, as high-stakes nuclear negotiations with the US go on

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — As I prepared to take a photograph of an anti-American mural outside of the former U.S. Embassy in Iran’s capital recently, a passerby called out to me.

“Take any picture you like, they’ll remove all of them later,” the man said.

It was a telling moment as the murals have long been a feature of the U.S. Embassy compound, which has been held and run by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a cultural center since the 1979 student-led hostage crisis there destroyed ties between Iran and the United States.

Today, Iran is talking to America about a possible diplomatic deal over its nuclear program and the idea of ties between the West and the outside world again seems possible, though difficult. That's especially true after President Donald Trump's new travel ban includes Iran once more.

The thing about taking pictures and working as a photojournalist in Tehran, my hometown, is that Iranians will come up to you in the street and tell you what they think. And sometimes, even when they won't say something out loud, I'll see it in the images I capture.

That’s particularly true with the gradual change we have seen in how women dress, whether in ancient corridors of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar or in the tony streets of northern Tehran. Women are forgoing the mandatory hijab, or headscarf, even as hard-liners try to pressure a renewed enforcement of the law against what they call the "Western Cultural Invasion.”

The government of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has meanwhile been urging restraint by police and others over the hijab. There are enough problems right now in Iran is their thought, particularly as Iran’s economy remains in dire straits.

U.S. sanctions have decimated it. Iran’s rial currency has plummeted in recent years. That economic hardship has made people more distrustful of the country’s theocracy.

And so people continue their daily lives in Tehran as they wait for any news after five rounds of talks so far between Iran and the U.S. You can see it in my photos. A carpet-seller waits to sell his wares in a darkened bazaar corner. Women without hijabs smoke shisha, or water-pipe tobacco. Another woman, wearing an all-black, all-encompassing chador, prays in a mosque’s courtyard.

It can all appear contradictory, but that’s life here. Tehran, home to some 10 million people, is the ever-growing beating heart of Iran. And as it awaits the results of the negotiations, it can feel like it is skipping beats in anticipation.

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Branches complete the hair of a painting on a wall of Imam Khomeini grand mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People walk past a state-sponsored anti-U.S. mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A carpet seller stands at his shop at Tehran's old main bazaar, Iran, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian women drink coffee on the sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman prays at the courtyard of Imam mosque at Tehran's old main bazaar, Iran, Monday, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A vendor adjusts fruits on his stand on the roadside of eastern entrance of Tehran, Iran, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Decorative lights glow beside cars parked along the roadside at the eastern entrance of Tehran, as people enjoy the evening in Iran, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A street vendor displays her puppet on a sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman stands with her dog, Lucifer, on a sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A dog sits in the back seat of a car in northern Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A street musician plays music on a sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Two women share a laugh as they walk on the sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A fruit and vegetable vendor waits for customers in Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A street musician plays the Daf, a hand-held Persian drum, on a sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Carpet sellers adjust carpets in their shop in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Women eat pizza in the outdoor area of a restaurant in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Women enjoy their time in a café in northern Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Motorbikes drive past a cyclist statue on a highway in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

PARIS (AP) — France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen denied any wrongdoing as she appeared in court on Tuesday to appeal an embezzlement conviction, with her 2027 presidential ambitions hanging on the outcome of the case.

Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. She was given a five-year ban from holding elected office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, a further two-year suspended sentence and a 100,000-euro ($116,800) fine.

“I'd like to tell the court that ... we did not feel we had committed any offence,” Le Pen told the three-judge panel. She said European Parliament officials did not at the time tell her party that the way it was hiring people was potentially against any rules.

"We have never concealed anything," she added. The room was packed with dozens of reporters and members of the general public.

The European Parliament's lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, said he disagrees with Le Pen's presentation of the institution's role as "an arbitrator."

“There’s a contradiction in saying at the same time: ‘I deny you the right to examine the content of my work as a member of parliament’ and then saying: ‘but the European Parliament didn’t conduct a thorough review,’” Maisonneuve told reporters.

Le Pen was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until last year's ruling, which sent shock waves through French politics. She denounced it as “a democratic scandal.”

Her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls, and Le Pen alleged that the judicial system brought out “the nuclear bomb” to prevent her from becoming France’s president.

Anti-corruption campaigners argue that Le Pen’s conviction was proof that French democracy works, and that no one is above the law. Advocacy group Transparency France noted that her conviction came after years of investigation and a lengthy trial in which Le Pen and other party members were able to freely defend their positions.

The appeal trial, involving Le Pen, 10 other defendants and the National Rally party as a legal entity, is scheduled to last for five weeks. The panel is expected to announce its verdict later, possibly before summer.

Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may bar her from running in 2027. She also could face an even tougher punishment if convicted anew — up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 1 million euros ($1.17 million).

In March, Le Pen and other party officials were convicted of using money intended for EU parliamentary assistants who instead had other duties between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU rules. Some did work for the party, known as the National Front at the time, in French domestic politics, the court said.

In handing down the sentence, the judge said Le Pen was at the heart of a “system” set up to siphon off EU parliament funds — including to pay for her bodyguard and her chief of staff.

All defendants denied wrongdoing, and Le Pen argued the money was used in a legitimate way. The judge said Le Pen and the others did not enrich themselves personally.

The legal proceedings initially stemmed from a 2015 alert raised by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European Parliament, to French authorities.

The case and its fallout weigh heavily on Le Pen’s political future after more than a decade spent trying to bring the far right into France’s political mainstream. Since taking over the party from her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011, she has sought to shed its reputation for racism and antisemitism, changing its name, expelling her father in 2015 and softening the party’s platform and her own public image.

The National Rally is now the largest single political group in France’s lower house of parliament and has built a broad network of elected officials across the country. It is most well-known for its anti-immigration, nationalist stance and its rhetoric often targeting Muslims.

Le Pen and other party members also have long criticized the EU and its rules and campaigned for more national sovereignty, even while serving in the EU Parliament. She stepped down as party president in 2021 to focus on the presidential race, handing the role to Jordan Bardella.

If Le Pen is ultimately prevented from running in 2027, Bardella, 30, is widely expected to be her successor. His popularity has surged, particularly among younger voters, though some within the party have questioned his leadership.

Le Pen's potential conviction would be “deeply worrying for (France's) democracy,” Bardella said Monday in a New Year address.

AP journalists Angela Charlton, John Leicester, Nicolas Vaux-Montagny and Catherine Gaschka contributed to this report.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen returns after a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

In this courtroom sketch, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center left, appears in court with other members of the far-right National Rally party, to appeal an embezzlement conviction that risks affecting her 2027 presidential ambitions Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1970 in Paris. (AP Photo/Valentin Pasquier)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves for a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves for a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

European Parliament lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve arrives to an appeal court for far-right leader Marine Le Pen's appeal trial for an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives for her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right party National Rally president Jordan Bardella speaks during his New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center, is framed by Louis Aliot, left, and conservative lawmaker Eric Ciotti during National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)