European Powers Alarmed As Iran Halts Nuclear Oversight
Iran has enacted a decision to suspend its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), alarming European powers who called the move 'disastrous.'
Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian on July 2 enacted a law passed last week — after Israeli and US airstrikes over 12 days hit its most-important nuclear facilities — to stop cooperating with the UN nuclear watchdog until Tehran receives guarantees that its nuclear sites and scientists are safe and that its right to enrich uranium domestically is assured.
Suspending cooperation with the IAEA means Iran will halt inspections, reporting, and oversight activities under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Giese said the decision sends a 'disastrous signal,' insisting that cooperation with the watchdog is 'crucial' for 'diplomacy to succeed.'
A day before the implementation of the law, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to persuade Iran to resume cooperation with the IAEA, which the Kremlin agreed to, according to RFE/RL sources.
Putin also expressed support for a diplomatic resolution, potentially including a zero-enrichment outcome in Iran — a non-starter for Tehran.
Macron warned that without a solid deal between Tehran and Washington on Iran's nuclear program, European powers would begin the process of re-imposing UN sanctions against the Islamic republic.
The United States and Iran had engaged in five rounds of indirect negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program before the talks broke down, prompting Israel to launch airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and military targets on June 13.
The United States entered the conflict on June 22, joining Israel by striking three major Iranian nuclear sites, including the heavily fortified underground facility at Fordow.
Eric Brewer of the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, said 'a new and dangerous phase' had begun with Iran's decision to suspend cooperation with the IAEA.
'The task of understanding what's happening at Iran's nuclear sites, new and old, will fall entirely on intelligence organizations,' Brewer, a former US intelligence analyst, wrote on X.
In an interview with CBS News aired on July 1, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi indicated that Tehran remains open to talks with the Washington.
'I don't believe negotiations will restart as quickly as that,' Araqchi said, responding to Trump's suggestion that talks could begin as soon as this week. Still, he emphasized, 'the doors of diplomacy will never be completely closed.'
But Trump this week appeared to change his stance on talks with the Islamic republic, writing on his Truth Social platform that he is 'not offering Iran anything…nor am I even talking to them since we totally obliterated their nuclear facilities.'
The full impact of the 12-day conflict with Israel on Iran's nuclear program is still uncertain. While Iran claims its nuclear facilities were heavily damaged, it has pledged to press on with its program, insisting it remains peaceful.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stated last week that Iran could restart uranium enrichment 'in a matter of months.'
Tehran has repeatedly accused the UN nuclear watchdog of bias, alleging it collaborates with Western nations and Israel against Iran.
For years, Grossi has criticized Iran for what he sees as a persistent lack of cooperation in the agency's efforts to investigate previously undisclosed nuclear sites. This ultimately resulted in the IAEA Board of Governors last month issuing a rare non-compliance resolution against Iran, which Tehran claims facilitated Israel's attacks.
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Shares in Applied Materials (AMAT) sank 14% before the bell on Friday after the chip equipment maker issued weak fourth-quarter forecasts on sluggish China demand, fueling concerns over tariff-related risks. Reuters reports: Read more here. Sign in to access your portfolio
Politico
26 minutes ago
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USA Today
27 minutes ago
- USA Today
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'They're basically trying to make it impossible or next to impossible to build wind or solar power in this country while at the same time rolling back regulations on fossil fuels,' said Nick Krakoff, senior attorney with the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation, a nonprofit environmental organization. Wind and solar power are two of the fastest-growing energy sectors in the United States and produced as much as 17% of the country's electricity last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the statistical agency of the Department of Energy. Since taking office, the Trump administration has paused permits on all new wind and solar projects on public land, onshore and offshore. The vast majority of renewable energy projects – 95% – are on private land, according to a report by the Brookings Institution. But many of those require some type of federal approval and are also being stalled by the new rules. It's this push to end large-scale energy projects on private property as well that some in the energy industry consider especially troubling. 'It's expected that every time you have a major change in administrations, policies on public land might change," said Jason Grumet, CEO of the American Clean Power Association. 'But the willingness of this administration to create political and bureaucratic barriers to private economic activity on private land is something nobody anticipated.' A shift that began Jan. 20 The dozens of new rules, mostly issued by the Department of the Interior, add multiple layers of permit requirements to an already thorough process – requirements that could slow or stymie some projects. 'It looks like they are just trying to find any moment at which the federal government interacts with a project and putting it on this list," said Michelle Solomon, manager of the electricity program at Energy Innovation, Policy and Technology, an energy think tank based in San Francisco. The flood of new regulations began on Jan. 20 when the administration temporarily withdrew all permits for offshore wind projects. On July 7, all subsidies for wind and solar projects were ended, though federal subsidies for coal, oil and natural gas were left in place. On July 15, the Department of the Interior added multiple layers of review for all wind and solar projects on public land, including a requirement that the secretary of the interior sign off on each one. It was not clear whether these requirements will stop new projects from being permitted, but "at the very least it will slow decisions down – and a lot of the decisions are not controversial, they're routine,' Krakoff said. On July 29, the department required wind or solar projects that have been approved but are being sued by opponents be federally reviewed and possibly canceled. Nearly a third of solar projects and half of wind projects that completed Environmental Impact Statements faced lawsuits, according to research by Resources for the Future, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit research institute. Targeting the renewable energy industry Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said in March that the administration's efforts "are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion." The new rules will ensure that wind and solar projects "receive appropriate oversight when federal resources, permits or consultations are involved," Department of the Interior senior public affairs specialist Elizabeth Pease said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY. The directives are already having an effect. On Aug. 6, the agency announced it was reversing a permit for a 1,000-megawatt wind facility that had been approved in Idaho. 'They're canceling meetings and taking down web pages," Grumet of American Clean Power said, adding that he sees the moves as "an unprecedented effort to weaponize bureaucracy to undermine an American industry." In early August, Nevada's Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo complained to the secretary of the interior in a letter that solar projects deep in the project pipeline have been frozen. 'This is part of a pattern of targeting the renewable energy industry," said the Conservation Law Foundation's Krakoff. "It's pretty unprecedented to target an entire industry and undermine the rule of law." Power demands are at an all-time high and rising These actions could stop cold what has been the biggest contributor to U.S. power supplies at a time when power demands driven by global warming and the needs of artificial intelligence and data centers are pushing power consumption to all-time highs. 'We need to build more power generation now, and that includes renewable energy. The U.S. will need roughly 118 gigawatts (the equivalent of 12 New York Cities) of new power generation in the next four years to prevent price spikes and potential shortages," said Ray Long, CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy." Only a limited set of technologies – solar, wind, batteries and some natural gas – can be built at that scale in that time frame." As of last year, 17% of electricity in the United States was created by wind or solar power. Of the new power generation projected to come online this year, 93% was expected to come from solar, wind or battery storage, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Solar power appears to be less impacted by the policy shifts than wind, Solomon said. 'Certainly the administration is seemingly trying to do everything they can to slow progress for wind and solar – but they don't have unilateral control over everything,' she said. 'I think there's a decent chance that there's a lot of projects on private land, at least solar projects, that will not have federal permitting requirements.' China has overtaken the United States on clean energy The shift comes as the rest of the world – especially China – make significant strides in moving to cheaper power from wind and solar. "I don't think the administration fully appreciates that if they were to tie their own hands, we could be retreating in that competition with China," Grumet said. China is installing wind and solar projects faster than any other nation and today has almost half the world's wind farms. In 2023 it built out more wind and solar than the rest of the world combined. In May, its solar power reached 1,000 gigawatts. The United States' current solar capacity is 134 gigawatts. A 1 gigawatt solar facility generates enough power to support about 200,000 households, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In the first quarter of this year, China was able to produce more energy through wind and solar than through coal and gas. As of July, the country made up 74% of all wind and solar projects under construction globally. China's enormous buildout of wind and solar power caused its carbon emissions to fall by 2.7% in the first six months of this year. Some experts believe its greenhouse gas emissions may have peaked. The country's combination of clean energy production along with the success of its electric vehicles has earned it the title of the world's first "electrostate." Fossil fuel-based nations are called "petrostates." None of this bodes well for the future of the United States on the world stage, said Julio Friedmann, an expert on carbon, hydrogen and biofuels at Carbon Direct, a company that provides climate solutions. "In all likelihood, the actions will strengthen China's position as global leader," said Friedmann, who also taught at Columbia University. "At worst, the U.S. may surrender its many advantages."
