UN, Iran and Egypt meet in Cairo to discuss Iran's nuclear program
Iranian, Egyptian and U.N. leaders met in Cairo on Monday to discuss Iran's nuclear program after a report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said that Iran is further increasing its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, said that the agency compiled the report, because Iranian's uranium enrichment was an ongoing concern for the IAEA's board of governors.
'We hope that by providing the clarification we will be providing an incentive for clarity, an incentive for a peaceful solution and a diplomatic solution,' Grossi said in Cairo.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Grossi as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
IAEA expresses 'serious concern'
The confidential IAEA report, which was seen by The Associated Press on Saturday, raised a stern warning, saying Iran is now 'the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material,' something the agency said was of 'serious concern.'
Iranian leadership believes the IAEA report is politically motivated by Grossi's hopes to become the next U.N. secretary-general.
Grossi is attempting to attract votes of several members of the U.N. Security Council with the report, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, told the official IRNA news agency late Sunday.
'He basically has chosen a political attitude, and this political attitude has led the environment to be more political rather that technical," Eslami said.
The IAEA report said that Iran, as of May 17, had amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That is an increase of almost 50% since the IAEA's last report in February. The 60% enriched material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected many of the report's findings. Gharibabadi noted on Sunday that out of the IAEA's 682 inspections of 32 states, 493 were carried out in Iran alone.
'So long as a country's nuclear activities are under the IAEA's monitoring, there is no cause for concern,' he said. 'The Islamic Republic of Iran is neither pursuing nuclear weapons nor does it possess any undeclared nuclear materials or activities.'
Questions about U.S. transparency
Iran is concerned that the U.S. hasn't provided enough transparency about what Iran can gain from the talks, Esmail Baghaei, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Monday.
'It must be crystal clear to us that how the unfair sanctions against the Iranian nation will be removed,' Baghaei said.
The U.S.-Iran talks are an attempt to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions that the U.S. has imposed on the Islamic Republic, which have strained relations for almost 50 years.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who is mediating in the U.S.-Iran talks, visited Tehran on Saturday to present the Washington's latest proposal for ongoing discussions.
Araghchi said on Monday in Cairo that Iran will reply to the U.S. approach soon, but there will be no agreement unless Iran's right to enrichment is respected.
Iran doesn't plan on leaving the negotiating table, but if the U.S. wants to pressure Iran to give up its entire nuclear program, rather than work with Iran's assurances of a peaceful program, the negotiations won't make any progress, he said.
The fifth round of talks between the U.S. and Iran concluded in Rome last week with 'some but not conclusive progress,' al-Busaidi said at the time.
Melanie Lidman reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
24 minutes ago
- The Independent
How airlines are managing the risk of missile threats and airspace closures
Airlines are facing an increasing burden on operations and profitability due to the rise in global conflict zones, industry executives have warned. Carriers are struggling with the threat from missiles and drones, airspace closures, location spoofing, and the risk of passenger flights being shot down. These challenges are leading to increased costs and loss of market share due to flight cancellations and expensive, last-minute re-routings, forcing the industry, which prides itself on its safety performance, to also invest more in data and security planning as a result. "Flight planning in this kind of environment is extremely difficult … The airline industry thrives on predictability, and the absence of this will always drive greater cost," said Guy Murray, who leads aviation security at European carrier TUI Airlines. With increasing airspace closures around Russia and Ukraine, throughout the Middle East, between India and Pakistan and in parts of Africa, airlines are left with fewer route options. "Compared to five years ago, more than half of the countries being overflown on a typical Europe-Asia flight would now need to be carefully reviewed before each flight," said Mark Zee, founder of OPSGROUP, a membership-based organisation that shares flight risk information. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East since October 2023 has led to commercial aviation sharing the skies with short-notice barrages of drones and missiles across major flight paths, some of which were reportedly close enough to be seen by pilots and passengers. Russian airports, including in Moscow, are now regularly shut down for brief periods due to drone activity, while interference with navigation systems, known as GPS spoofing or jamming, is surging around political fault lines worldwide. When hostilities broke out between India and Pakistan last month, the neighbours blocked each other's aircraft from their respective airspace. "Airspace should not be used as a retaliatory tool, but it is," Nick Careen, International Air Transport Association (IATA) senior vice president for operations, safety and security, told reporters at the airline body's annual meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. Isidre Porqueras, chief operating officer at Indian carrier IndiGo, said the recent diversions were undoing efforts to reduce emissions and increase airline efficiencies. Worst-case scenario Finances aside, civil aviation's worst-case scenario is a plane being hit, accidentally or intentionally, by weaponry. In December, an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people. The plane was accidentally shot down by Russian air defences, according to Azerbaijan's president and Reuters sources. In October, a cargo plane was shot down in Sudan, killing five people. Six commercial aircraft have been shot down, with three near-misses since 2001, according to aviation risk consultancy Osprey Flight Solutions. Governments need to share information more effectively to keep civil aviation secure as conflict zones proliferate, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said this week. Safety statistics used by the commercial aviation industry show a steady decline in accidents over the past two decades, but these do not include security-related incidents such as being hit by weaponry. IATA said in February that accidents and incidents related to conflict zones were a top concern for aviation safety, requiring urgent global coordination. Tough choices Each airline decides where to travel based on a patchwork of government notices, security advisers, and information-sharing between carriers and states, leading to divergent policies. The closure of Russian airspace to most Western carriers since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022 put them at a cost disadvantage compared to airlines from places like China, India and the Middle East that continue to take shorter northern routes that need less fuel and fewer crew. Shifting risk calculations means Singapore Airlines flight SQ326 from Singapore to Amsterdam has used three different routes into Europe in just over a year, Flightradar24 tracking data shows. When reciprocal missile and drone attacks broke out between Iran and Israel in April 2024, it started crossing previously avoided Afghanistan instead of Iran. Last month, its route shifted again to avoid Pakistan's airspace as conflict escalated between India and Pakistan. Flight SQ326 now reaches Europe via the Persian Gulf and Iraq. Singapore Airlines did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Pilots and flight attendants are also worried about how the patchwork of shifting risk might impact their safety. "IATA says airlines should decide if it's safe to fly over conflict zones, not regulators. But history shows commercial pressures can cloud those decisions," said Paul Reuter, vice president of the European Cockpit Association, which represents pilots. Flight crews typically have the right to refuse a trip due to concerns about airspace, whether over weather or conflict zones, IATA security head Careen said. "Most airlines, in fact, I would say the vast majority of them, do not want crew on an aircraft if they don't feel comfortable flying," he said.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
The rules in the UK on allowing visitors from the 12 countries now banned by Donald Trump from entering the US
Donald Trump has dramatically banned the citizens of 12 countries from entering the US in a bid to 'protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors'. Announcing the move from the Oval Office, the president said 'we don't want 'em' before referencing a recent attack in Boulder, Colorado where 12 people were injured when an Egyptian man attacked a group gathering in support of Israeli hostages. The ban, which is set to begin on June 9, will apply to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Those from another seven countries - Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela - will be hit by a partial ban. Citizens from all these nations are still allowed to travel to the UK, so what hoops do they have to jump through to come here? In most cases, anyone wishing to travel to Britain from all 19 countries would need to apply for a visa. These are categorised by the purpose they are intended for, including work, study, leisure visits, or joining family, with different rules for each. Most long-term visas require applicants to provide a copy of their passport and documents proving their work status and access to finances. Home Office workers will check each applicant's eligibility for the visa and whether their application is accurate and complies with official requirements. Background checks may also be carried out, although the exact nature of these is unclear. Visa applications are generally refused if they are found to be incomplete, inaccurate, or the applicant has a history of immigration violations. There is also the option to bar people from the UK - such as hate preachers - if their presence is deemed 'not conducive to the public good'. Specific criminal record checks are only required to obtain work visas for specific jobs, including teaching and medical roles. Some additional requirements, such as tests for diseases like Tuberculosis for citizens from countries like Equatorial Guinea. It costs £524 to apply for a student visa from outside the UK, in addition to a £776 immigration health surcharge. Some 192,000 visas were granted to main applicants in all work categories in the year ending March 2025, 39 per cent down on the previous 12 months. However, that was still 40 per cent more than in 2019. Most UK visa applicants have to present their visa documents at a UK visa application centre in their home country. However, Afghans are required to go to a neighbouring country as there are no functioning centres in Taliban-governed Afghanistan. Aside from applying through a mainstream visa route, there are also two special schemes open to Afghans who have worked with the UK Government or those seen as particularly vulnerable, such as LGBT people. Afghanistan is the second most common country of origin for UK asylum claimants, many of whom arrive in small boats. They are only able to apply for asylum after arriving on UK soil, after which they will be screened by an immigration officer and told to wait until their application is either accepted or refused. It is during this waiting period that asylum seekers are often put up in taxpayer-funded hotels. One notable absence from Mr Trump's ban list was Egypt - where the Boulder terror suspect came from. Mohamed Soliman was residing in the US illegally with his wife and five children when he allegedly firebombed pro-Israel demonstrators, injuring 12 of them. Mr Trump has raised the possibility that Egypt could be added onto his no-fly list. 'We don't want 'em,' he said bluntly in a video released shortly after the ban was announced. 'Very simply, we cannot have open migration from any country where we cannot safely and reliably vet and screen.' Mr Trump said he hopes their efforts will 'confirm the adequacy of its current screening and vetting capabilities.' He said the tragedy in Boulder 'underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted. 'We've seen one terror attack after another from foreign visa overstayers... thanks to Biden's open door policies today there are millions and millions of these illegals who should not be in our country.' Several of the nations facing bans have been targeted because their screening and vetting capabilities are not up to the president's standards, putting Egypt on high alert. Afghanistan, Eritrea, Libya, Sudan and Yemen were all placed on the banned list in part due to limited screening and vetting measures, Trump noted. White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson wrote on X: 'President Trump is fulfilling his promise to protect Americans from dangerous foreign actors that want to come to our country and cause us harm. 'These commonsense restrictions are country-specific and include places that lack proper vetting, exhibit high visa overstay rates, or fail to share identity and threat information. 'President Trump will ALWAYS act in the best of interest of the American people and their safety.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Devin Haney vs Teofimo Lopez negotiations collapse amid ‘duck' claim
Just hours after the fight between Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez was unofficially announced, it has been called off due to the parties' inability to come to an agreement. The news broke on X through The Ring's Mike Coppinger, who said: 'Negotiations have collapsed for a proposed fight between Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez on Aug. 16 in Riyadh, [The Ring] has learned. Haney and Teofimo both scored wide-decision wins on May 2 in Times Square.' Originally, the plan was for Haney to have a rematch with Ryan Garcia, provided they were both victorious on the Times Square card on 2 May, where Garcia fought Rolly Romero and Haney took on Jose Ramirez. Haney held up his end of the bargain, outpointing Ramirez, but Garcia suffered a shock defeat by Romero, which put an indefinite hold on the fight. Lopez also fought on the card, comfortably beating Arnold Barboza Jr on points to retain his WBO strap and was eyeing up a move up in weight for his next fight. This culminated in rumours of a fight being made between Lopez and Haney on 16 August, the same day as Gervonta 'Tank' Davis's rematch with Lamont Roach, at a catchweight of 145lb. But as quickly as the fight was announced, it was called off. Haney confirmed the collapse on X, saying it was signed on his end but that Lopez decided not to take the fight. Haney went on to claim that the WBO super-lightweight champion was avoiding him. Haney said on X: 'The fight with Teo is not signed! I signed my part and Teo has been stalling. As of today, he does not want to fight me and he is officially the biggest [duck].' He added in a separate post: 'I wanted the fight at 147. He wanted the fight at 140. We negotiated to meet at 145, even though he was willing to fight boots [Jaron Ennis] at 147."
