Latest news with #UNSanctions
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Iran on brink of rejecting US proposal on nuclear programme
Iran is on the brink of rejecting US proposals on the future of its nuclear programme after the US draft insisted that Tehran would have to suspend the enrichment of uranium inside Iran and set out no clear route map for lifting US economic sanctions. The US proposals were the first in written form since five rounds of indirect talks started, but Iranian diplomatic sources said the US proposals gave no ground on Iran's demand to continue to enrich uranium inside the country. 'Iran is drafting a negative response to the US proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the US offer,' a senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters. The US proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Omani foreign minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, who was on a short visit to Tehran and has been mediating talks between Tehran and Washington. A complete breakdown in the talks would trigger European moves to impose heavier UN sanctions on Iran and a possible joint US-Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites, a move that could see Iran in turn launch reprisals. Faced by such a catastrophe, Iran is likely to try to temper its response to the US plans so that further talks are possible. The best compromise available would a US statement that Iran in principle is permitted to enrich uranium but in practice will not do so, at least inside Iran, for an indefinite period. The US has said it would allow Iran to join a Middle East consortium to enrich uranium, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, but this could not take place on Iranian soil. A regional consortium for a civil nuclear program would require huge trust between the countries involved and continued external inspection. At one point it seemed that Donald Trump would allow Iranian enrichment at low levels so long as US inspectors – not just UN teams – were given access to Iran's nuclear sites, but that solution seems to be fading. Speaking on a visit to Cairo, the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi revealed little about the progress of the talks, but said Iran would be replying to the US proposals shortly. Iran did suspend enrichment for two years from November 2003, but in 2005 it rejected the European plan to use imported low-enriched nuclear fuel for its reactors. In Egypt Araghchi met with Raphael Grossi, the director of the UN nuclear inspectorate the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressing his displeasure at a draft IAEA report prepared for the agency's next board meeting that highlights how Iran has continued to enrich uranium at high levels of purity contrary to the agreement the nation signed in 2015. France, Germany and the UK intend to use the report to press for a board vote leading to UN sanctions being reimposed in September. The Iranians claim the draft IAEA report contains nothing surprising or new, but accuse the west of pressurising the inspectorate to develop an increasingly propagandistic tone. The report found that Iran carried out secret nuclear activities with material not declared to the UN nuclear watchdog at three locations that have long been under investigation. Araghchi said: 'Western pressures should not affect the IAEA and the IAEA must maintain its independent and technical identity. Some countries want to put pressure on Iran through the IAEA, and we hope that the IAEA will not fall into this trap.' He added: 'Iran's enrichment is completely peaceful and a scientific achievement that we have achieved through our scientists. The Iranian nation has paid heavy prices to achieve this achievement, and the blood of a number of our nuclear scientists has been shed for this issue. 'If the goal of the negotiations is to ensure that Iran does not seek to obtain nuclear weapons, we can reach an agreement in this regard, but if unacceptable and unrealistic goals are pursued in this regard and the goal is to deprive Iran of peaceful nuclear activities, there will definitely be no agreement.' Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, said: 'If a proposal is based on ignoring the principle of enrichment, it is not at all presentable, not acceptable, not admissible, not worthy of attention, and not negotiable.'
The Guardian
5 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Ukrainian cities ‘terrorised' by North Korean weapons in Russian hands
Russian forces have used North Korean weapons to intensify missile attacks against critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and 'terrorised' entire cities, according to a report by UN members that reveals the extent of Moscow's dependence on the regime in Pyongyang. The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, comprising 11 countries including the US, Britain, EU states and Japan, said Kim Jong-un's dictatorship had supplied Russia with more than 20,000 containers of munitions since September 2023. The team said the evidence it had gathered showed that North Korea and Russia had engaged in 'myriad unlawful activities' prohibited by UN sanctions resolutions. In June 2024, Kim, the North Korean ruler, and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty that commits the two countries to come to each other's aid if attacked. In its first report since it was formed in 2024 to monitor UN sanctions triggered by the North's nuclear weapons programme, the group said as many as nine million rounds of artillery and rocket launcher ammunition had been shipped from North Korea to Russia. 'At least for the foreseeable future, North Korea and Russia intend to continue and further deepen their military cooperation in contravention of relevant UN security council resolutions,' the monitoring team said. North Korea had also 'contributed to Moscow's ability to increase its missile attacks against Ukrainian cities, including targeted strikes against critical civilian infrastructure'. North Korea is seeking Russian help with its troubled spy satellite programme in return for providing military aid, including thousands of soldiers. It has also sent Russia powerful weapons. Since it started shipping ammunition to Russia in September 2023, the North has transferred at least 100 ballistic missiles, self-propelled artillery guns, long-range multiple rocket launchers and munitions, according to the report. The report said North Korea had transferred the arms and other items by sea, air and rail. North Korean ballistic missiles were being used 'to destroy civilian infrastructure and terrorise populated areas such as Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia', it said. The Kremlin has reciprocated by helping Pyongyang with its ballistic missile programmes through the provision of data feedback based on the weapons' performance in the Ukraine war. This, the report said, had led to 'improvements in missile guidance performance'. Moscow had also provided air defence equipment and anti-aircraft missiles, as well as electronic warfare systems to North Korea, it said. The estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers sent to fight in the war with Ukraine last year have also gained first-hand battlefield experience, to the alarm of officials in South Korea. The report noted that a further 3,000 reinforcements had been dispatched recently. The 11-member monitor group was set up after Russia vetoed a resolution in March 2024 that would have seen a UN security council panel of experts continue monitoring North Korea for violation of sanctions. Kim and Putin last month confirmed for the first time that North Korea had sent troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine, describing them as 'heroes'.
Free Malaysia Today
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
North Korea fires flurry of short-range ballistic missiles
North Korea launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions. (AP pic) SEOUL : North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles today, South Korea's military said, around a week after leader Kim Jong Un tested a new weapons system for his latest warship. Seoul's military said it had 'detected several projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles', the joint chiefs of staff said. The missiles were 'fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea into the East Sea at around 8.10am today', they added, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan. The launch, the nuclear-armed North's first missile test since March, came about a week after Kim oversaw the test-firing of a new warship weapons system. Pyongyang unveiled the 5,000-tonne destroyer-class vessel named Choe Hyon last month. North Korea claims the vessel was equipped with the 'most powerful weapons', and that it would 'enter into operation early next year'. Some analysts have said the ship could be equipped with short-range tactical nuclear missiles – although North Korea has not proven it has the ability to miniaturise its nukes. The South Korean military has said the destroyer could have been developed with Russian help – possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Kyiv. Russia and North Korea also recently announced that they had started building the first road bridge linking the two neighbours. North Korea launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions. Experts have long warned that the nuclear-armed North may be testing weapons for export to Russia for use against Ukraine. Japan's defence ministry said there was no impact on Japan from the North Korean missile, according to public broadcaster NHK. South Korea's military said in early March that the North fired 'multiple unidentified ballistic missiles', the same day Seoul and Washington began a major annual joint military drill known as Freedom Shield. Pyongyang also carried out a test-launch of strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea in late February, which it said showed off 'counter-attack capabilities'. Washington – Seoul's key security ally – has in recent years ramped up joint military exercises and increased the presence of strategic US assets, such as an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine, in the region to deter the North. Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an 'irreversible' nuclear weapons state and routinely denounces joint US-South Korea drills as rehearsals for invasion. The two Koreas are technically still at war as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. With relations souring, the North last year blew up roads and railways connecting it to the South and fortified areas of the border with more mines. In early April, South Korea's military said its troops fired warning shots when around 10 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula.
