Tehran will continue talks with IAEA, foreign ministry says
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Leaders
an hour ago
- Leaders
Iran to Maintain IAEA Negotiations after Curbing Access
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei announced that his country will go on with talks with the UN nuclear watchdog, according to Reuters. Baghaei noted that Iran will probably have another round of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the coming days. 'We had talks (with the IAEA) last week. These talks will continue and there will be another round of talks between Iran and the agency probably in the coming days,' he added. Tehran has accused the agency of effectively laying the groundwork for Israel-US attacks that began on June 13, following a May 31 report that prompted the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors to declare Iran in violation of its non-proliferation obligations. Last week, Iran announced that the Deputy Head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog would visit Tehran in an attempt to revive the bilateral relations that witnessed souring tensions since Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi noted that the agency will not have any access to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities during the visit. Iran & IAEA Relations Iranian relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have deteriorated since the United States and Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities in June in order to eliminate Iran's nuclear program. In June, the Iranian Guardian Council approved a law suspending Tehran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, Arab News reported. According to the new law, the IAEA should have approval by the Supreme National Security Council for any future inspection of Iran's nuclear sites. 'For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect … and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined,' Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said. He also told Tehran-based diplomats that Iran's cooperation with the nuclear watchdog has not stopped. However, it will take a new form and will be guided and managed through the Supreme National Security Council. This legislative move came as a response to a series of escalations that began on June 13, when Israel launched a wave of airstrikes on Iran under the name of Operation Rising Lion. The military campaign targeted Iran's nuclear facilities and killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists. Consequently, the US launched several airstrikes targeting Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. Related Topics: China Rejects European Sanctions over Iran's Nuclear Program IAEA to Visit Iran Within Next Two Weeks Iran-Europe Nuclear Talks Loom as Sanctions Deadline Nears Short link : Post Views: 10
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Legal experts eye UN General Assembly action on Gaza
ISTANBUL: The UN General Assembly must be empowered to urgently intervene in Gaza and send a protective military force to help its devastated population, the non-government Gaza Tribunal project said Monday. The body, which groups international academics, rights advocates and legal experts, was set up in London in 2024 aiming to mobilize public opinion and pressure governments 'to end the genocide' in Gaza. Addressing a news conferences in Istanbul, its leader Richard Falk, a former UN rapporteur for Palestinian rights, said the tribunal called on governments to act before it was 'too late.' The aim was 'the empowerment of the UN General Assembly to organize a protective, armed intervention in Gaza to overcome the disruption of humanitarian aid and the continuing devastation and destruction of the people,' said the 94-year-old American emeritus law professor. Since the Hamas October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, Gaza has been hit by a huge Israeli military onslaught that aid agencies say has caused a dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinians territory. 'We urge governments around the world to take immediate steps to empower the veto-free UN General Assembly that ... so far has been frustrated in its attempts to end the Gaza genocide,' the group said in a statement. Israel has repeatedly denied there is any genocide in Gaza or that it blocks humanitarian aid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that calls to end the war 'harden' the Hamas resolve to fight the conflict. Falk said the move could be established through policy instruments like the 1950 'United for peace' resolution or the more recent 'Responsibility to protect' (R2P) doctrine. The first lets the UN General Assembly act when the Security Council fails to maintain international peace and security. It was adopted at US urging in the early stages of the 1950-53 Korean war to sidestep a systematic Soviet Security Council veto. The R2P was passed in 2005 aiming to prevent a repeat of the horrors of the 1994 Rwanda genocide and the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. 'If we do not take action of a serious and drastic kind at this time, (it) will be too late to save the surviving people,' said Falk who worked for decades on Palestinian rights and was repeatedly denounced for his harsh stance on Israel. He said Gaza Tribunal hoped to have the issue added to the agenda of next month's UN General Assembly in New York. World powers are deeply divided over whether military intervention to halt atrocities is justified, with critics seeing it as a smokescreen for meddling in other nations' internal affairs. Amnesty International on Monday accused Israel of enacting a 'deliberate policy' of starvation in Gaza — a charge Israel has repeatedly rejected. The 2023 Hamas attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's offensive has killed more than 61,944 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the UN considers reliable.
Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Iran warns war with Israel could resume at any time
A senior Iranian official warned Monday that war with Israel could erupt at any moment, describing the current lull after June's 12-day conflict as only a temporary halt. 'We must be prepared at every moment for confrontation; right now, we are not even in a ceasefire (agreement); we are in a cessation of hostilities,' said First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref. The fighting in June saw Israel bombard Iranian nuclear and military sites, as well as residential areas, killing more than 1,000 people, including senior commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes that killed dozens in Israel. The United States announced a halt in fighting on June 24, two days after it joined the war by bombing Iranian nuclear facilities. But there was no agreement formalizing the ceasefire, only an undeclared pause in hostilities. On Sunday, Yahya Rahim Safavi, a military advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, told Iranian media the country was 'preparing plans for the worst-case scenario.' 'We are not in a ceasefire now, we are in a war phase, it could break down at any time, there is no protocol, no regulations, no agreement between us and the Israelis, between us and the Americans,' he said in remarks carried by the Shargh daily. 'A ceasefire means ceasing attacks; that could change at any time,' he added. Since then, Iranian officials have insisted the country is not seeking war but is ready for another confrontation. Western powers accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons through its atomic program, a charge Tehran strongly denies. Following the war, Israel and the United States repeatedly threatened to attack Iran again should Tehran relaunch its nuclear sites and resume its nuclear enrichment program. The United Nations nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran is the only non-nuclear-armed country that enriches uranium to 60 percent – far beyond the 3.67 percent cap set by a landmark international accord reached in 2015. The level is a short step from the 90-percent enrichment required for a nuclear weapon. Last week, Britain, France and Germany, all signatories to the 2015 deal, threatened to reimpose sanctions lifted under the agreement. Iran has warned of serious consequence with some officials in the country hinting at withdrawal of Tehran from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
