Iran restricts IAEA access to main enrichment plant after attack, diplomats say

Inspections and monitoring have also been in the spotlight recently as Iran reduced its cooperation with the agency in February. (Reuters)
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Updated 01 July 2021
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Iran restricts IAEA access to main enrichment plant after attack, diplomats say

  • The IAEA declined to comment, citing its general policy of not commenting on inspection matters

PARIS/VIENNA: Iran has been restricting UN nuclear inspectors’ access to its main uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, citing security concerns after what it says was an attack on the site by Israel in April, diplomats say.

The standoff, which one official said has been going on for weeks, is in the course of being resolved, diplomats said, but it has also raised tensions with the West just as indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the Iran nuclear deal have adjourned without a date set for their resumption.

It follows various moves by Iran that breach the 2015 nuclear deal or have angered Washington and its allies, ranging from enriching uranium to close to weapons-grade to failing to explain the origin of uranium particles that the UN nuclear watchdog found at several undeclared sites.

“They are provoking us,” said one Western diplomat who follows the International Atomic Energy Agency closely, adding that inspectors should be able to have full access next week.

Iranian officials were not immediately available for comment. The IAEA declined to comment, citing its general policy of not commenting on inspection matters.

Any reasons for Iran’s move beyond the official security and safety concerns it cited as explanations are unclear, but it has quarreled with the IAEA over access before. Iran in 2020 denied the IAEA access to two locations for snap inspections. In 2019, Iran held an IAEA inspector and seized her travel documents.

The IAEA has so far stopped short of reporting the issue to its member states and calling an emergency meeting of its 35-nation Board of Governors as it did in November 2019 when Iran briefly held the IAEA inspector who diplomats say had sought access to Natanz.

An explosion and power cut in April at Natanz, the heart of Iran’s uranium-enrichment programme, appears to have damaged centrifuges at the underground, commercial-scale Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) there. The last quarterly IAEA report on Iran in May showed its enrichment output had slowed.

“Because of the accident/sabotage in April, certain accesses have been limited for safety and security reasons,” a Vienna-based diplomat said, adding that the move “had very little impact on the agency’s ability to carry out verification”.

The IAEA and Iran have discussed the issue “in order to avoid that these limitations become permanent and therefore start eroding the verification capability”, he added.

Washington and its European partners have been pressuring Iran over its breaches of the deal, which was built around lengthening the time Tehran would need to produce a nuclear weapon if it chose to. Iran insists its nuclear aims are entirely peaceful.

Inspections and monitoring have also been in the spotlight recently as Iran reduced its cooperation with the agency in February, removing the legal basis for snap IAEA inspections at undeclared facilities that had been introduced by the 2015 deal.

At the same time, Iran ended IAEA monitoring of some nuclear activities that the deal introduced. A temporary agreement with the IAEA kept that monitoring going in a black-box-type arrangement under which data continues to be collected but the IAEA will only have access to it at a later date.

That temporary agreement expired last week, however, and the IAEA has said Iran has not responded when asked about the status of that agreement, which the IAEA hopes to extend.

The Western diplomat said Iran had now agreed to grant inspectors full access to the FEP, which should happen next week. Another said the move was carefully calibrated by Iran to create a nuisance without causing a major diplomatic incident.

“The Iranians are being very tactical,” he said.


Lebanon says at least three killed in Israeli strike on Baalbek

Updated 57 min 37 sec ago
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Lebanon says at least three killed in Israeli strike on Baalbek

  • A ministry statement said body parts were recovered from the site

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said at least three people were killed in an Israeli strike Thursday on the main eastern city of Baalbek.
“The Israeli enemy strike... in Baalbek killed three people, in an initial toll,” a ministry statement said, adding that “body parts were recovered from the site and their identities are being verified.”


Cafe in Libya champions recycling and sustainability

Updated 14 November 2024
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Cafe in Libya champions recycling and sustainability

  • Lamma, which means “gathering” or “hangout” in Arabic, has become a cultural hub for locals and other visitors
  • Its central mission, its owner said, is raising awareness of an eco-friendly lifestyle in Libya

TRIPOLI: In Libya’s capital, a cafe’s sleek exterior gives little hint of the vibrant space inside, built entirely from recycled materials to promote sustainability in a country recovering from years of war.
Lamma, which means “gathering” or “hangout” in Arabic, has become a cultural hub for locals and other visitors, featuring an art gallery that showcases Libyan artists, and hosts events and workshops.
But its central mission, its owner said, is raising awareness of an eco-friendly lifestyle in Libya, where green initiatives are scarce as people grapple with the aftermath of a gruelling conflict.
“We use materials that were abandoned in the streets, such as rubber from tires, wood from trees and construction waste” to build the cafe, said Louay Omran Burwais, an architect who designed and founded Lamma.
“The idea is to show people that what is thrown in the street and may seem ugly or useless is actually still valuable,” he told AFP.
Libya was hurled into war after a NATO-backed uprising led to the overthrow and killing of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, followed by years of fighting between militias, mercenaries and jihadists.
Power remains split between a UN-recognized government and a rival authority in the east.
Behind the long, narrow door into Lamma, visitors are greeted with a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes.
The plant-covered walls contrast with a web of suspended metal scraps, alcoves and slide tunnels that children swoop down through.
“There are no places like this in Libya,” said Roula Ajjawi, Lamma’s art director. “We base everything on one aspect that we consider very important: recycling.”
Families gather at Lamma on Thursdays, the start of the Libyan weekend, when the cafe holds art workshops for children.
Others borrow books from the venue’s small library.
Burwais says his team hopes recycling and other eco-friendly practices, which remain rare, start up in Libya, which currently has no recycling facilities.
Visitors to Lamma will recognize familiar everyday objects repurposed throughout the space, Burwais said, but they will “start seeing them differently. We are here to foster a new mindset.”
In Libya, the plastic, metal, and glass left from over a decade of civil war destruction are rarely, if ever, reused or recycled, Ajjawi said.
More often, they are abandoned in nature and on the streets, occasionally washed into the Mediterranean by rain and wind.
But with initiatives like Lamma, objects once destined for the landfill are transformed into works of art — a concept now catching on with locals.
“I love this place,” said Riyad Youssef, now a Lamma regular. “The food is great, the service is excellent, and I appreciate the commitment to reducing waste. Every idea here is amazing.”


Turkiye probes event spending in opposition-run cities

Updated 14 November 2024
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Turkiye probes event spending in opposition-run cities

  • The office said late on Wednesday it would investigate “irregular spendings“
  • The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office has also launched an investigation into two concerts

ISTANBUL: The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office has opened a probe into allegations of illicit expenditures at some public events organized by the Istanbul municipality, marking the latest legal challenge to opposition-run districts in Turkiye.
The office said late on Wednesday it would investigate “irregular spendings” to determine whether the public experienced financial harm, without elaborating.
The Ankara chief prosecutor’s office has also launched an investigation into two concerts organized by the Ankara municipality on Republic Day celebrations on Oct. 29.
The municipalities, which are Turkiye’s two largest cities and both run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), deny the allegations.
Speaking at a career fair on Thursday, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — who is seen as a potential future challenger to President Tayyip Erdogan — said the probes amounted to “reputation assassination.” The Istanbul municipality did not comment further on the probe when contacted by Reuters.
Late last month the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district was arrested and accused of belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), charges he and his party reject.
Since then, the interior ministry dismissed and replaced elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish DEM party in some southeastern cities for alleged ties to militants, charges they and their party also deny.


Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus kill 15, state media says

People check the damage following a reported Israeli strike in the Mazzeh district of Damascus on November 14, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 14 November 2024
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Israeli attacks on Syria’s Damascus kill 15, state media says

  • The buildings are located in the suburbs of Mazzeh and Qudsaya, both west of the capital, the SANA report said

DUBAI: Fifteen people were killed and 16 injured in Israeli attacks on a number of residential buildings in suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, state news agency SANA reported, citing a Syrian military source.
The buildings are located in the suburbs of Mazzeh and Qudsaya, both west of the capital, the SANA report said.
Israeli army radio said the targets of the attack in Damascus were a headquarters of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad and what it described as other assets, without elaborating.
Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since last year’s Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Israeli territory that sparked the Gaza war.
Commanders in Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards based in Syria have been known to reside in Mazzeh, according to residents who fled after recent strikes that killed some key figures from the groups.
Mazzeh’s high rise blocks have been used by the authorities in the past to house leaders of Palestinian factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. 


UN resolutions back Palestinian sovereignty, compensation for Lebanon, Syria

Updated 14 November 2024
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UN resolutions back Palestinian sovereignty, compensation for Lebanon, Syria

  • US, Argentina, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau vote against both resolutions
  • Palestinian representative: Israel allowed to act ‘above the law with brazen impunity’

LONDON: The UN Economic and Financial Committee has approved resolutions calling on Israel to compensate Lebanon and Syria for an oil slick, and to hand sovereignty to the Palestinians over their natural resources.

The US, Argentina, Canada, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau voted against both resolutions.

The slick occurred after the Israeli Air Force struck storage tanks near the Jiyah electric power plant in 2006, covering two-thirds of Lebanon’s coastline with oil.

The draft resolution was introduced by Uganda’s representative, who highlighted the disastrous impact the slick has had on biodiversity and the local economy.

It reiterated the UN General Assembly’s “deep concern” over the negative impact the incident has had on Lebanon’s long-term sustainable development, and reaffirmed a UN report that damage to the country caused by the slick amounted to $856.4 million in 2014.

The resolution was passed by 161 votes in favor to seven against, with nine abstentions. It called for “prompt and adequate compensation” from Israel to Lebanon and Syria, which was also affected by the slick.

Lebanon’s representative thanked his country’s supporters at the UN, the World Bank and elsewhere.

He said the slick had hindered Lebanon’s ability to implement the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and Israel’s use of chemical and toxic substances in its ongoing military campaign could cause long-term agricultural, economic and biodiversity damage.

He called for an investigation into Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and for further compensation.

The Ugandan representative also introduced a draft resolution calling on Israel to “cease the exploitation, damage, cause of loss or depletion and endangerment of the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.”

The draft also recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to seek compensation for any illegal activity by Israel or Israeli settlers that exploits or damages their natural resources.

It cited an International Court of Justice advisory opinion from July 19, and reaffirmed “the principle of the permanent sovereignty of the peoples under foreign occupation over their natural resources and the applicability of the Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in time of war.”

The committee passed the resolution with 159 states in favor. Seven countries opposed the motion, with 11 abstentions.

The Palestinian representative said Israel must be held accountable for crimes committed against her people and on their territory, saying it has “for over a year” violated the UN Charter with its “incomprehensible” acts in Gaza.

She added that Israel has been allowed to act as a state “above the law with brazen impunity, classifying all Palestinians as terrorists to justify its acts.” 

The Syrian delegate said genocide, destruction and displacement committed by Israel “have also threatened to set fire to the entire region and beyond.” He blamed the US for preventing the UN Security Council from taking firm action.

The Algerian delegate said people living under occupation should have sovereignty over their natural resources, and damage caused by Israeli aggression will take years of reconstruction to undo.