Trump says Iran has not agreed to inspections, give up enrichment
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he believed Tehran's nuclear programme had been set back permanently although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Mr. Trump said he would discuss Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the White House on Monday.
"I would say it's set back permanently," Mr. Trump said as he travelled to New Jersey after an Independence Day celebration at the White House. "I would think they'd have to start at a different location. And if they did start, it would be a problem."
Mr. Trump said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear programme, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff deepens over their return to the country's nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel.
The U.S. and Israel say Iran was enriching uranium to build nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency's inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran's facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran's parliament has passed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency's inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
The U.S. and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran's three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran's nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg (880 pounds) enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
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Songs of outrage
On June 28, at the Glastonbury music festival in the U.K., the BBC staff were on high alert. Scared of the possibility of protest music that could discomfit the powers that be, they had already decided not to live stream the performance of the Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap, which has in the past used its shows to accuse Israel of committing genocide in Palestine. Bob Vylan, the British punk rock duo, was nowhere in their radar. This meant that all those who had tuned into the BBC stream heard the chants 'free, free Palestine' and 'death, death to the IDF' (referring to the Israel Defence Forces), initiated by lead singer Bobby Vylan (real name Pascal Robinson-Foster) and repeated by the large crowd waving Palestine flags. The band, which was just beginning to make its mark outside the punk underground, suddenly found itself at the centre of the global music spotlight as well as a political storm. Although a few pro-Israeli voices criticised them, the band found overwhelming support online, but the establishment was swift in its crackdown. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had earlier demanded that Kneecap not be given a platform at the festival, called it 'appalling hate speech'. The Avon and Somerset Police launched a criminal investigation against the band. The BBC issued a formal apology, asked some senior staff involved in the event to step back from their duties and put Bob Vylan in the 'high risk' category. The U.S. State Department revoked the visas of the band members, making the band lose close to 20 scheduled shows in the country. Music festivals in France and Manchester dropped them. But Bob Vylan appeared to expect the blowback and was aware of what they stood to lose for saying what they said. 'We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine. A machine that has destroyed much of Gaza,' the band wrote on Instagram. Bob Vylan emerged in 2017 in Ipswich, catching attention with their music which brings together the anti-establishment soul of punk rock and hip-hop. Some of their songs — which have over this week found lakhs of new listeners — and the issues that they talk about are reminiscent of rap metal legends Rage Against the Machine, known for their politically-charged performances. Strongly protective of their privacy from the 'surveillance state', the duo adopted the stage names Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan. Protest music A pro-Palestinian stand has always been a part of the band's ideology, with the lead singer participating in protests since a young age. Their lyrics such as 'The government, their not helping no one out, except for the rich people... It makes me violent' or 'Give Churchill's statue the rope and see if it floats' are designed to provoke and call attention to pertinent issues. In a way, they are sticking to the conventions of the genre, for sparking outrage is par for the course for punk bands. Banning musicians is not a first for the BBC either. It had issued a total ban on the punk band Sex Pistols in 1977 after they released the song God Save the Queen, which asked uncomfortable questions about the British monarchy. Bob Vylan also belongs to a long tradition of protest music, which witnessed its heights during the Vietnam War, when there were songs like Phil Ochs's Draft Dodger Rag, Pete Seeger's Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son and Bob Dylan's Masters of War. The current spring of protest music led by Kneecap and Bob Vylan is certainly more direct and hard-hitting, partly due to a sense of helplessness. That is probably why their voices resonated with such a large number of music buffs, who have hit out at even the much-loved band Radiohead for their unclear stand on Palestine. At one point, Bob Vylan appeared to be getting even more media attention than the ongoing deaths in Gaza. But as the band said, 'We are not the story. We are a distraction from the story. And whatever sanctions we receive will be a distraction.' Gaza remains the story.
