2 d. ago Satellite photos raise questions about Israel’s secretive nuclear programme

Construction work has intensified on a major new structure at a facility key to Israel’s long-suspected atomic weapons programme, according to satellite images analysed by experts. They say it could be a new reactor or a facility to assemble nuclear arms - but secrecy shrouding the programme makes it difficult to know for sure. The work at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Centre near the city of Dimona will renew questions about Israel’s widely believed status as the Middle East’s only...

Politics

3 d. ago Xi reiterates support for Iran nuclear programme amid Western pressure

Chinese President Xi Jinping doubled down on his support for Iran to “safeguard its national sovereignty” and vowed to promote a widely accepted solution to the Iranian nuclear issue as Tehran faces mounting Western pressures over its nuclear programme. “China attaches importance to Iran’s repeated affirmation that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, respects Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Xi told his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, according to state-owned...

Events

8 d. ago European nations trigger Iran sanctions ‘snapback’, as nuclear tensions rise

Britain, France and Germany on Thursday launched a 30-day process to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, a step likely to stoke tensions two months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran. A senior Iranian official quickly accused the three European powers of harming diplomacy and vowed that Tehran would not bow to pressure over the move by the E3 to launch the so-called “snapback mechanism”. The three powers feared they would otherwise lose the prerogative...

Events

8 d. ago ‘Snapback’ sanctions on Iran loom as IAEA chief’s concerns remain

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog warned on Wednesday that the agency was not yet satisfied with Iran’s cooperation with international inspectors, just as European leaders appeared poised to reimpose sanctions on Tehran after a series of last-minute meetings failed to reach a diplomatic resolution on its nuclear programme. Despite Iran allowing inspectors back in for the first time since the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June, regaining access to crucial nuclear facilities was still “a work in...

Politics

9 d. ago UN inspectors back in Iran amid nuclear programme talks, no inspection deal yet

UN nuclear inspectors have returned to Iran for the first time since it suspended cooperation with them in the wake of Israel’s attacks on its nuclear sites, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told lawmakers Tehran had still not reached an agreement on how it would resume full work with the UN’s IAEA watchdog, the parliament news agency ICANA reported. But he said the inspectors would supervise the changing of fuel at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power...

Events

1 week ago Iran nuclear deal risks collapse over European demand for talks, inspection

The 2015 deal under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme is on the verge of collapse after its three European signatories last week threatened to reinstate United Nations sanctions if Tehran did not heed Western demands. With Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejecting pressure from his British, French and German counterparts on Friday to resume negotiations with a disinterested United States and allow UN inspectors back into nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the US in...

Events