
Iran agrees to restart nuclear talks with UN watchdog, says IAEA chief
The International Atomic Energy Agency has said it must be allowed to resume inspections after Israeli and U.S. airstrikes last month that aimed to destroy Iran's nuclear programme and deny it the capacity to build a nuclear weapon.
Rafael Grossi said in Singapore that Iran must be transparent about its facilities and activities.
He told reporters alongside a public lecture that the IAEA had proposed that Iran start discussions on 'the modalities as to how to restart or begin (inspections) again'.
'So this is what we are planning to do, perhaps starting on technical details and, later on, moving on to high level consultations. So this will not include inspections yet.'
On Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran had agreed to allow a technical team from the IAEA to visit in the coming weeks, but not to go to the nuclear sites.
Tehran, which denies seeking to build a nuclear weapon, has said access to the bombed sites poses security and safety risks.
Grossi said he had no further information from Iran on the status and whereabouts of its stock of some 400 kg of highly enriched uranium.
'This is why it is so important that we engage as soon as possible and that we can start our inspection,' he said. - Reuters
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New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Two rights groups are first Israeli voices to accuse Israel of genocide
TEL AVIV: Two Israeli human rights organisations said on Monday Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the first major voices in Israeli society to level the strongest possible accusation against the state. Rights group B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released their reports at a press conference in Jerusalem, saying Israel was carrying out "coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza strip." "The report we are publishing today is one we never imagined we would have to write," said Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director. "The people of Gaza have been displaced, bombed and starved, left completely stripped of their humanity and rights." Physicians for Human Rights Israel focused on damage to Gaza's healthcare system, saying: "Israel's actions have destroyed Gaza's healthcare infrastructure in a manner that is both calculated and systematic." Israel has fended off accusations of genocide since the early days of the Gaza war, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned as "outrageous." A spokesperson for the Israeli government called the allegation made by the rights groups on Monday "baseless." "There is no intent, (which is) key for the charge of genocide ... it simply doesn't make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tons of aid most of that being food, if there is an intent of genocide," said spokesperson David Mencer. A spokesperson for Israel's military did not immediately respond to request for comment. Accusations of genocide have particular gravity in Israel because of the origins of the concept in the work of Jewish legal scholars in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust. Israeli officials have in the past said using the word against Israel was libellous and antisemitic. When Amnesty International said in December that Israel had committed genocidal acts, Israel's foreign ministry called the global rights group a "deplorable and fanatical organisation." The 1948 Genocide Convention, adopted globally after the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group." Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border on October 7 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Since then, Israel's offensive has killed nearly 60,000 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, reduced much of the enclave to ruins, and displaced nearly the entire population of more than two million. International attention to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza has intensified in recent weeks, with UN agencies saying the territory is running out of food for its 2.2 million people. Israel shut off all supplies into Gaza in March for nearly three months, reopening the territory in May but with new restrictions it says are needed to prevent aid from ending up in the hands of fighters. Since then, its forces have shot dead hundreds of Gazans trying to reach food distribution sites. Israel has announced measures in recent days to increase aid supplies, including pausing fighting in some locations, allowing airlifts of food and safer corridors for aid. Throughout the conflict, Israeli media have tended to focus mainly on the plight of Israeli hostages in Gaza, with less attention given to Palestinian civilians. Footage widely broadcast in other countries of destruction and casualties in Gaza is rarely shown on Israeli TV. That has been changing, with recent images of starving children having a little more impact, said Oren Persico from The Seventh Eye, a group that tracks trends in Israeli media. "It's very slowly evolving," he said. "You see cracks." But he did not expect the genocide allegation would spark a major shift in attitudes: "The Israeli perception is: 'what do you want from us? It's Hamas' fault, if it would only put down its weapons and (release) the hostages this could all be over'." In an editorial on the mainstream news site Ynet last Monday, journalist Sever Plotzker said images of Palestinians rejoicing over the October 7 attacks and abusing hostages had made Israelis "blind to Gaza." The Israeli public "now interprets the destruction and killing in Gaza as a deterrent retaliation and therefore also morally legitimate." In a comment in the Jerusalem Post on Sunday, Dani Dayan, the chairman of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, said it was not accurate to accuse Israel of committing genocide. "But that does not mean we should not acknowledge the suffering of civilians in Gaza. There are many men, women, and children with no connection to terrorism who are experiencing devastation, displacement, and loss," he wrote. "Their anguish is real, and our moral tradition obligates us not to turn away from it."


Daily Express
an hour ago
- Daily Express
Terror threat to Singapore ‘remains high', says home affairs report
Published on: Tuesday, July 29, 2025 Published on: Tue, Jul 29, 2025 By: Reuters Text Size: Singapore's home affairs ministry said Islamic State is using propaganda to exploit the war in Gaza. (EPA Images pic) SINGAPORE: The terrorism threat to Singapore remains high, said its home affairs ministry in a report released today, pointing to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and 'continued traction of radical narratives'. While there was no current intelligence of an imminent attack against Singapore, the ministry said Islamic State uses propaganda to exploit the war in Gaza and local grievances to reinforce its narrative of armed violence. Since the surprise attack by Hamas on Israel in October 2023, six Singaporeans have been found to support or were making preparations to take part in armed violence because of the conflict, said the report. 'Singapore and our interests continue to be viewed as attractive and legitimate targets by terrorist and extremist elements, due to our friendly relations with western nations and Israel, the presence of iconic structures in Singapore, and our status as a secular and multicultural state,' it said. The ministry said a key threat was online self-radicalisation, in a variety of extremist ideologies, especially of youths. Since 2015, Singapore has used the Internal Security Act against 17 youth aged 20. Most recently it was used against two teenagers – one planned to shoot mosques, the other planned to join Islamic State. The law allows suspects to be held for lengthy periods without trial, or to be given a restriction order limiting travel and internet access, among other conditions. The threat assessment report also said artificial intelligence was emerging as a terrorism enabler for 'generating and translating propaganda, producing convincing synthetic multimedia, creating personalised recruitment messages at scale, and planning and developing attacks'. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia


The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Afghans show solidarity as migrant returns from Iran surge
ISLAM QALA, Afghanistan: At the border with Iran, Fatima Rezaei distributes food and hygiene products to Afghans forced to return, unable to passively stand by as the deportation crisis grows. The 22-year-old is one of many Afghan volunteers rallying to help their compatriots, despite having little themselves. Since the beginning of the year, more than 1.6 million Afghans, including many children, have returned after being deported or driven out of Iran, which accuses them of pushing up unemployment and crime. "It doesn't matter whether you have a lot of money or not. I don't have much, but with the help of Afghans here and abroad, we manage," said Rezaei. The number of crossings at the Islam Qala border has reached 30,000 on several days, peaking at 50,000 on July 4, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In response, residents of the western region have mobilised, partly thanks to donations sent by Afghans living in Europe or North America. A journalist for a local television channel, Rezaei travels over 100 kilometres (62 miles) to reach the border from her hometown of Herat. From a stack of cardboard boxes, she distributes baby wipes and sanitary towels to women gathered under a tent and surrounded by around a dozen children. "It is our responsibility to stand by their side," she said. "The government tries to help, but it's not enough." International organisations are helping to register migrants but face massive budget cuts. Meanwhile, Taliban authorities struggle to support the influx of Afghans who have often left everything behind and returned to a country mired in poverty. Unemployed Hosna Salehi volunteers with her parents' charitable organisation, Khan-e-Meher, to distribute aid, such as infant formula. "Some women with young children tried to breastfeed but didn't have enough milk due to stress," she told AFP. "Our fellow Afghans need our support right now. We have a duty to give what we can, no matter if it is a little or a lot." The show of solidarity "makes us proud", said Ahmadullah Wassiq, director of Afghanistan's High Commission for Refugees. "The government cannot solve these problems alone," he acknowledged, "and the efforts of citizens must be applauded". The Taliban government says it provides money upon arrival and is establishing towns dedicated to returning Afghans, though it does not specify when they will be ready. In Herat, the nearest major city to the border, some in the most precarious circumstances have been living in parks in tents donated by residents. Some said they were having to rebuild their lives after returning home. "The only thing we're worried about is finding work," said Hussein, 33, who spent more than 10 years in Iran. "There, they told us our papers were no longer valid. We had good jobs, now we need to find work and start from scratch," said the father-of-two, who was moved by the support he encountered on the Afghan side of the border. "They really helped us and extended a hand," he said as he waited for a free bus to take him the nearly 1,000 kilometres to the capital Kabul. In Afghanistan, where half the population of around 48 million lives below the poverty line according to the World Bank, "there isn't much of a culture of volunteering", said 27-year-old Omid Haqjoo, as he prepared food in vast cooking pots. "But we are trying to promote it... to provide the support that is missing," he added. After a day of heat in the humanitarian tents at Islam Qala, Salehi felt strengthened by a "life lesson". "If I was able to help volunteer, I think everyone can," she said. "And when I go home and think of all the fellow Afghans who smiled at me and prayed for me, that's enough for me." - AFP