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UN Atomic Watchdog Exits Iran, Deepening Inspections Blackout

UN Atomic Watchdog Exits Iran, Deepening Inspections Blackout

Bloomberg6 hours ago
The United Nations atomic watchdog is said to have pulled its last remaining inspectors out of Iran following the implementation of a new law that criminalizes international monitoring, deepening the blackout over Tehran's nuclear program.
The last International Atomic Energy Agency specialists were safely withdrawn from Tehran on Friday to the Vienna-based agency, according to a western diplomat, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information. It's the first time since Iran began enriching uranium two decades ago that IAEA monitors — who conducted almost 500 inspections in the Islamic Republic last year — have been expelled from the country.
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Inside Iran's notorious Evin Prison - as Tehran says damage shows Israel targeted civilians
Inside Iran's notorious Evin Prison - as Tehran says damage shows Israel targeted civilians

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  • Yahoo

Inside Iran's notorious Evin Prison - as Tehran says damage shows Israel targeted civilians

It is one of the most notorious and secret places in Iran. Somewhere foreign journalists are never allowed to visit or film. The prison where dissidents and critics of Iran's government disappear - some never to be seen again. But we went there today, invited by Iranian authorities eager to show the damage done there by Israel. Evin Prison was hit by Israeli airstrikes the day before a ceasefire ended a 12-day war with . The damage is much greater than thought at the time. We walked through what's left of its gates, now a mass of rubble and twisted metal, among just a handful of foreign news media allowed in. A few hundred yards in, we were shown a building Iranians say was the prison's hospital. Behind iron bars, every one of the building's windows had been blown in. Medical equipment and hospital beds had been ripped apart and shredded. It felt eerie being somewhere normally shut off to the outside world. On the hill above us, untouched by the airstrikes, the buildings where inmates are incarcerated in reportedly horrific conditions, ominous watch towers silhouetted against the sky. Evin felt rundown and neglected. There was something ineffably sad and oppressive about the atmosphere as we wandered through the compound. The Iranians had their reasons to bring us here. The authorities say at least 71 people were killed in the air strikes, some of them inmates, but also visiting family members. Iran says this is evidence that Israel was not just targeting military or nuclear sites but civilian locations too. But the press visit highlighted the prison's notoriety too. Iran's critics and human rights groups say Evin is synonymous with the brutal oppression of political prisoners and opponents, and its practice of hostage diplomacy too. British dual nationals, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe were held here for years before being released in 2022 in exchange for concessions from the UK. Read more: Interviewed about the Israeli airstrikes at the time, Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe showed only characteristic empathy with her former fellow inmates. Trapped in their cells, she said they must have been terrified. The Israelis have not fully explained why they put Evin on their target list, but on the same day, the Israeli military said it was "attacking regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran". The locus of their strikes were the prison's two entrances. If they were trying to enable a jailbreak, they failed. No one is reported to have escaped, several inmates are thought to have died. The breaches the Israeli missiles made in the jail's perimeter are being closed again quickly. We filmed as a team of masons worked to shut off the outside world again, brick by brick.

Trump Welcomes Edan Alexander, Former Hamas Hostage, to White House
Trump Welcomes Edan Alexander, Former Hamas Hostage, to White House

New York Times

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Trump Welcomes Edan Alexander, Former Hamas Hostage, to White House

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