More Stories
Satellite imagery shows no evidence that Iran has moved its near-weapons-grade uranium from the Isfahan facility following US airstrikes in June, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday.
“There is nothing to contradict the notion that the material is where it was,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters in Washington, while urging Tehran to resume full cooperation.
Inspectors have not regained access to Iran’s key nuclear sites since the June war between Israel and Iran. Talks in Geneva between European powers and Tehran ended Tuesday without a breakthrough.
Grossi warned that the agency remains unable to verify the condition or location of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile, estimated at more than 400 kilograms before the conflict.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister warned on Wednesday that if three European countries move to trigger international sanctions at the United Nations, progress toward resuming the work of nuclear inspectors would be thwarted.
Kazem Gharibabadi added that France, Germany and the United Kingdom are not authorized to invoke provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 nuclear deal, since they are no longer active participants in the agreement.
Read more here.
France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the European Union told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio they will trigger the UN snapback sanctions mechanism against Iran on Thursday, Axios reported, citing three sources with direct knowledge.
European officials told Axios the decision follows months of unproductive talks. The European powers, known as the E3, had warned Iran they would act by the end of August unless Tehran resumed nuclear negotiations with the US, restored access for UN inspectors and addressed concerns over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
A senior European diplomat said Iran had taken no clear steps to meet these demands and failed to offer detailed proposals during a meeting in Geneva this week. The diplomat said Iran was in "clear violation" of the nuclear agreement and left no room to extend the deadline.
Read more here.
Iran has launched a clean-up operation at a nuclear-related site in northern Tehran that was struck by Israeli airstrikes in June, in a move that will likely remove evidence of any past nuclear weapons development work, a research group said on Wednesday.
Satellite images analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security show damaged buildings being cleared at the Mojdeh site, also known as Lavisan 2, over a period of several weeks this summer.
“The rapid work by Iran to quickly demolish and clear the rubble of these important buildings appears to be an effort to sanitize the site,” the institute said.
Read more here.
Iran’s currency weakened sharply on Thursday as European nations prepared to trigger the return of United Nations sanctions under the snapback mechanism, deepening economic pressure on the Islamic Republic and adding to uncertainty around its nuclear program.
The sharp drop extends a steady decline in the rial over recent weeks. Currency dealers quoted the dollar at around 1,030,000 rials on the open market, according to local reports, compared to 957,000 rials last week.
Read more here.
