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Iran’s most sensitive nuclear infrastructure lies far beneath the surface and cannot be destroyed by a single strike, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Financial Times, as he warned of the risks if negotiations over the country’s nuclear program fail.
“The most sensitive things are half a mile underground — I have been there many times,” FT quoted Grossi as saying. “To get there you take a spiral tunnel down, down, down.”
Grossi said a breakdown in talks would likely lead to conflict. “The Iranian thing has incredible potential to become catastrophic. If there is a failure in negotiation, this will imply most probably military action,” he said.
A bipartisan group of 16 lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have called on the Trump admin to ensure that any nuclear agreement with Iran includes the permanent dismantling of Tehran’s uranium enrichment capabilities, Jewish Insider reported on Friday.
The letter, addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, said that Iran "must not retain any capacity to enrich uranium or continue advancing its nuclear weapons infrastructure."
The group also urged the administration to work with European allies to "promptly invoke the snapback mechanism" to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran if negotiations fail to yield a deal that fully dismantles Iran’s nuclear program. Given the expiration of the snapback provision in October, they stressed the need to act by late summer if talks stall.
Three men accused of aiding Iran’s intelligence service are due to face trial in the UK in October 2026, it was announced in a preliminary hearing at London's Old Bailey on Friday.
Defense barristers for defendants Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, indicated that they were likely to plead not guilty.
A formal plea hearing was set for September 26 and the trial for October 5, 2026 at the Woolwich Crown Court.
The men were arrested on May 3 and remain in custody. They are the first individuals from Iran to be charged under the UK’s National Security Act of 2023, which covers threats from hostile foreign states.
All three are accused of engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, identified by police and the Home Secretary as Iran. The charges relate to alleged activities between August 2024 and February 2025.
Sepahvand is charged with carrying out “surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research” with the intention of committing “serious violence” against a person in the United Kingdom. Javadi Manesh and Nouri are charged with “surveillance and reconnaissance” with the intention “that acts, namely serious violence against a person in the United Kingdom, would be committed by others”.
Alleged surveillance of individuals in the UK
The men are also charged with conducting surveillance and reconnaissance of individuals in the UK.
Their targets are allegedly journalists from Iran International, an independent Persian-language broadcaster and multilingual news outlet based in London.
Iran International has a broad following in Iran, despite government efforts to restrict internet and satellite signal access.
Government reaction
Following the announcement of the charges in May, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Iran must be held to account for its actions ... We will not tolerate growing state threats on our soil.”
The government would examine further steps to counter state-based threats to national security, she added.
All three men were granted Temporary Leave to Remain in the UK after entering illegally.
Sepahvand entered the country in 2016 in a lorry and claimed asylum.
Javadi Manesh arrived by small boat in 2019 and applied for asylum on religious grounds.
Noori's asylum application was rejected in 2024 and is currently under appeal.
Noori had previously sought asylum in Germany under a false identity, according to a report published by IranWire. The article said he entered Germany in 2019 using a fake Brazilian passport and claimed to be a political dissident.
His asylum case was rejected, including appeals, and he left the country in late 2022 before a final court ruling was issued.
The United States on Friday imposed new Iran-related sanctions targeting 10 individuals and 27 entities, according to the US Treasury's website.
Among those sanctioned are several dual nationals, including British-Iranian Fazlolah Zarringhalam and three individuals with Iranian and Saint Kitts and Nevis nationality: Mansour Zarringhalam, Nasser Zarringhalam, and Pouria Zarringhalam. Saint Kitts and Nevis is a small island country in the Caribbean known for its citizenship-by-investment program.
The new sanctions also cover entities based in the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.
Russia’s Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation is prepared to resolve any technical issues that arise if political agreements are reached on Iran’s nuclear program, TASS reported on Friday, citing the corporation’s CEO Alexey Likhachev.
"We confirm our readiness to resolve any technical issues in the event political decisions are made and a multilateral agreement on the so-called Iranian problem is in sight. Our cooperation with Iran in the nuclear sphere is developing," Likhachev said.
He added that collaboration with Iran includes building nuclear power units, supplying fuel to the Bushehr nuclear power plant, and joint research in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
