Trump tells Iran sanctions will remain until it ends nuclear programme
US president
Donald Trump
has demanded
Tehran
dismantle its nuclear programme as the price for the lifting of sanctions which are crippling Iran's economy. 'WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!' he wrote on his Truth Social on Monday night.
Iran says its right to enrichment of uranium is non-negotiable.
During five rounds of talks on a nuclear deal since April, the Trump administration has made conflicting statements on whether it wants Iran to halt all uranium enrichment or maintain low levels of enrichment.
In recent weeks Mr Trump and US envoy Steve Witkoff have said Iran must end all enrichment activities.
READ MORE
This stand, however, contradicted a proposal on Saturday, reported by US-based Axios website, for the lifting of sanctions in exchange for the limiting of enrichment to 3.67 per cent purity – which can be used for medicine and power generation.
[
Iran has increased stockpile of highly enriched uranium, watchdog reveals
Opens in new window
]
Under such an agreement, Iran would be banned from building new enrichment plants and advancing nuclear research and development. It would dismantle uranium-processing facilities and make underground enrichment facilities non-operational. Iran would also be obliged to adhere to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requirements. The proposal reiterates a decade-old plan for Iran to create a consortium with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to handle enrichment for civilian purposes. This has been rejected by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.
Sanctions relief would be granted once Iran 'demonstrates real commitment' as assessed by the US and the IAEA.
In response, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the US had not delivered assurances on sanctions relief. Iran is seeking guarantees and mechanisms for sanctions removal.
After a recent meeting in Cairo with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said: 'If the goal is to deprive Iran of its peaceful activities, then certainly no agreement will be reached.'
His comment came in response to Mr Grossi's call for 'more transparency' over Iran's nuclear activities after an IAEA report revealed that Iran has stepped up production of uranium enrichment to 60 per cent, closer to the 90 per cent required for weapons – which Iran contends it has no intention of producing.
[
Iran will survive if nuclear deal not agreed with US, says president
Opens in new window
]
During next week's meeting in Vienna of the IAEA board of governors, western powers are expected to table a resolution to trigger intrusive sanctions against Iran for failing to provide information on past and present nuclear activities and failing to co-operate fully with the IAEA. Iran's atomic energy agency and foreign ministry have rejected this threat and argued it is in full compliance with non-proliferation commitments and violated the 2015 deal only after the US abandoned it.
Although that deal – negotiated between Iran, the US, China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK – was successful in containing Iran's nuclear activities and lifting sanctions, Mr Trump withdrew the US in 2018 and placed 1,500 fresh sanctions on Iran. Since returning to office in January, he has intensified his 'maximum pressure' campaign to compel Iran to submit to his demands on the nuclear deal and other issues and threatened military action if negotiations fail.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
29 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Trump suspends entry of international students studying at Harvard
US president Donald Trump has suspended for an initial six months the entry into the United States of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University , amid an escalating dispute with the Ivy League school. Mr Trump's proclamation cited national security concerns as a justification for barring international students from entering the United States to pursue studies at the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university. Harvard in a statement called Mr Trump's proclamation 'yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the Administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights.' 'Harvard will continue to protect its international students,' it added. READ MORE The suspension can be extended beyond six months. Mr Trump's proclamation also directs the US state department to consider revoking academic or exchange visas of any current Harvard students who meet his proclamation's criteria. [ Keith Duggan on Trump v Harvard: university faces existential battle Opens in new window ] The directive on Wednesday came a week after a federal judge in Boston announced she would issue a broad injunction blocking the administration from revoking Harvard's ability to enrol international students, who make up about a quarter of its student body. The administration has launched a multifront attack on the nation's oldest and wealthiest university, freezing billions of dollars in grants and other funding and proposing to end its tax-exempt status, prompting a series of legal challenges. Harvard argues the administration is retaliating against it for refusing to accede to its demands to control the school's governance, curriculum and the ideology of its faculty and students. Harvard sued after homeland security secretary Kristi Noem on May 22nd announced her department was immediately revoking Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which allows it to enrol foreign students. Her action was almost immediately temporarily blocked by US district judge Allison Burroughs. On the eve of a hearing before her last week, the department changed course and said it would instead challenge Harvard's certification through a lengthier administrative process. Nonetheless, judge Burroughs said she planned to issue a longer-term preliminary injunction at Harvard's urging, saying one was necessary to give some protection to Harvard's international students. In an internal cable seen by Reuters that was issued a day after that court hearing, the state department ordered all its consular missions overseas to begin additional vetting of visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard for any purpose. Wednesday's two-page directive said Harvard had 'demonstrated a history of concerning foreign ties and radicalism,' and had 'extensive entanglements with foreign adversaries,' including China. The FBI had 'long warned that foreign adversaries take advantage of easy access to American higher education to steal information, exploit research and development and spread false information,' the proclamation said. It said Harvard had seen a 'drastic rise in crime in recent years while failing to discipline at least some categories of conduct violations on campus,' and had failed to provide sufficient information to the homeland security department about foreign students' 'known illegal or dangerous activities.' – Reuters
Irish Times
44 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Donald Trump's pick as ambassador to Ireland Edward Walsh makes the cut with US senators
New Jersey businessman Edward Walsh, Donald Trump's pick to be US ambassador to Ireland, has been confirmed by the US senate. Mr Walsh was approved by US senators in a confirmation vote on Wednesday evening with American lawmakers voting 57 to 38 in his favour. Eight Democratic senators, including Virginia's Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton's running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, and Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar, joined the Republican side of the chamber in advancing the president's nomination in the morning vote on a count of 60-37. Those opposed to his appointment were comprised entirely of Democratic senators, along with the Vermont independent Bernie Sanders. READ MORE Mr Walsh was introduced at his confirmation hearing last month by Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican, as one of Trump's closest friends. 'So, to our friends in Ireland you're getting one of the closest friends that President Trump has and that will benefit you because when Ed picks up the phone President Trump will answer,' said Graham. The construction company founder and philanthropist is a member and two-time champion player at the golf course Mr Trump owns in Bedminster, New Jersey. In making the nomination, the US president described Mr Walsh as a 'champion golfer' who would be 'a very good asset for an ambassador to Ireland to have.' Mr Walsh is understood to have a home in the US president's Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Edward Walsh (in navy T-shirt), who has been confirmed by the US senate as ambassador to Ireland, poses with US president Donald Trump at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The new ambassador is a graduate of Villanova University where he spent his first semester in hospital following a serious car crash. He met his wife Lynn while at Villanova and the couple has three daughters, Rachel, Maggie and Anna, and two grandchildren. The appointment will mark Mr Walsh's first foray into diplomacy. Among the issues raised at his confirmation hearing was the conviction, forwarded by a series of Republican lawmakers, that Ireland was 'out of step' with the United States in its relationship with Israel and its stance on Gaza. Mr Walsh pledged to convey that sentiment when his role was made official. 'I do understand the issue, but I am really looking forward to diving into more detail,' Mr Walsh said. 'President Trump has been very clear that Ireland is an ally and there's no room for anti-Semitism throughout the world. It will definitely be a big part of my conversations with them. I hear you. I would be glad to meet you on it.' Mr Walsh has strong family ties with Ireland. He said at his hearing that he anticipates helping both countries in 'fostering even deeper collaboration that will drive economic growth, create jobs, and enhance prosperity for the United States and the great people of Ireland'.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
American group distributing aid in Gaza delays reopening sites
A controversial private company distributing aid in Gaza , backed by the US and Israel , had yet to reopen its distribution sites in the enclave by midmorning on Thursday, a day after shutting them following a series of deadly shootings close to its operations. The US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) had said on Wednesday that its sites would not reopen at their usual time due to maintenance and repair work. It did not say when the locations would reopen. A Palestinian father of four in Gaza's Khan Younis, who asked not to be identified over safety concerns, told Reuters the GHF site in nearby Rafah had not reopened by mid morning. GHF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – Reuters
