VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog criticized Iran on Wednesday for making an undeclared change to the interconnection between the two clusters of advanced machines enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to weapons grade, at its Fordow plant.
The International Atomic Energy Agency found the change during an unannounced inspection on Jan. 21 at the Fordow Fuel enrichment Plant (FFEP), a site dug into a mountain where inspectors are stepping up checks after Iran said it would dramatically expand enrichment.
Fordow is so sensitive that the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers banned enrichment there. Since the United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions against Iran, the Islamic Republic has breached many of the deal’s restrictions on its nuclear activities.
In a confidential report to member states seen by Reuters, the IAEA did not say how the interconnection between the two cascades of IR-6 centrifuges had been changed except that “they were interconnected in a way that was substantially different from the mode of operation declared by Iran (to the IAEA).”
In a public statement summarising that confidential report, the IAEA said its chief Rafael Grossi “is concerned that Iran implemented a substantial change in the design information of FFEP in relation to the production of high-enriched uranium without informing the Agency in advance.”
“This is inconsistent with Iran’s obligations under its Safeguards Agreement and undermines the Agency’s ability to adjust the safeguards approach for FFEP and implement effective safeguards measures at this facility.”
The IAEA has had regular access to Fordow to carry out verification activities like inspections and it is in talks with Iran on stepping up those activities, the report said.
“The Agency and Iran have continued their discussions. The Agency has increased the frequency and intensity of its verification activities at FFEP. However, some other safeguards measures are still required and are being discussed with Iran,” the report added.
IAEA chides Iran for undeclared change to Fordow uranium enrichment setup
https://arab.news/vhend
IAEA chides Iran for undeclared change to Fordow uranium enrichment setup
- IAEA found the change during an unannounced inspection on Jan. 21 at the Fordow Fuel enrichment Plant
- Fordow is so sensitive that the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers banned enrichment there
Two young asylum seekers found dead off Greek island Rhodes
The two young males were part of a group of 63 asylum seekers “from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Egypt“
ATHENS: The bodies of two young asylum seekers have been discovered in the sea off Rhodes, near the Turkish coast, the Greek port police said on Tuesday.
The migrants were “a teenager and a younger child,” the police told AFP.
They said the two young males were part of a group of 63 asylum seekers “from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and Egypt” who were spotted by police near Ladiko Bay.
The vessel had set off from Turkiye, police said, adding that it was not clear how the migrants had perished.
The police said that they were still searching for other people who might be in difficulty.
Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea, in recent months has seen a rise in asylum seekers trying to reach Europe, namely from countries in Africa and Asia where there is conflict, persecution or poverty.
Drownings are frequent during the perilous crossing between the Turkish coast and the Greek islands.
Two weeks ago, eight people drowned when their boat capsized off Rhodes and a further 26 were rescued by Greek authorities.
The bodies of two young asylum seekers have been discovered in the sea off Rhodes, near the Turkish coast, the Greek port police said on Tuesday. (AFP/File)
Global cooperation ‘flatlined’ amid rising conflicts: WEF report
- Multilateral bodies failing to resolve wars, says WEF’s Borge Brende
- Deaths at highest in 30 years, record 122m people displaced in 2024
DUBAI: Geopolitical tensions and rising conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan have caused global cooperation to stall after a period of growth, according to a report from the World Economic Forum.
The report was launched on Tuesday, ahead of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos from Jan. 20 to 24.
The report, the second edition of the Global Cooperation Barometer, was developed in collaboration with McKinsey & Co.
The report found that cooperation was increasing positively over a decade, surpassing pre-COVID-19 levels but stagnated over the past three years due to geopolitical instability.
However, collaboration has continued in various other areas including vaccine distribution, scientific research and renewable energy development, the reported stated.
“The concern with a stalled level of cooperation is that as the world enters the second half of the decade, with critical global deadlines ahead, progress is not where it needs to be,” said Borge Brende, president and CEO of the WEF, during the report’s online launch event.
This rise in global security issues and record levels of humanitarian crises were due to the inability of multilateral institutions to prevent and resolve conflicts in recent years, the report found.
According to UN figures, the number of conflict-related deaths has risen to the highest levels in 30 years, with a record number of 122 million people displaced as of 2024, double the number from a decade ago.
Brende urged the international community to unify and address the mounting geopolitical tensions and competition as leaders approach a highly “complex and uncertain” world.
“The Barometer is being released at a moment of great global instability and at a time when many new governments are developing agendas for the year, and their terms, ahead,” Brende said.
“What the Barometer shows is that cooperation is not only essential to address crucial economic, environmental and technological challenges, it is possible within today’s more turbulent context.”
The Barometer uses 41 indicators to measure global cooperation between 2012 and 2023 across five pillars: trade and capital flows, innovation and technology, climate and natural capital, health and wellness, and peace and security.
Positive momentum in climate finance, trade and innovation offered hope, the report stated.
“Advancing global innovation, health, prosperity and resilience cannot be done alone,” said Bob Sternfels, global managing partner at McKinsey & Co.
“Leaders will need new mechanisms for working together on key priorities, even as they disagree on others, and the past several years have shown this balance is possible.”
He urged world leaders to embrace “disordered” cooperation, as well as develop adaptive and solutions-driven decision-making to navigate a turbulent global landscape.
“By pivoting towards cooperative solutions, leaders can rebuild trust, drive meaningful change and unlock new opportunities for shared progress and resilience in the complex years ahead,” he said.
According to the UN, just 17 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals are on track to meet the 2030 deadline.
The advancement of cooperation in innovation in 2023 drove the adoption of new technologies that benefited multiple areas of life. However, the WEF warned that emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence was reshaping the global landscape, raising the possibility of an “AI arms race.”
“Cooperative leadership and inclusive strategies will be key to harness its vast potential while tackling risks,” according to experts quoted in the report.
The report found that cooperation on climate goals improved over the past year, with increased finance flows and higher trade in low-carbon technologies such as solar, wind and electric vehicles. Yet, urgent action was still required to meet net-zero targets as global emissions continue to rise.
According to UN figures, global temperatures have risen to record levels, with 2024 being the hottest year on record.
Health outcomes, including life expectancy, continued to improve post-pandemic, but overall progress was slowing compared to pre-2020. Brende warned that forging collaboration in a highly fragmented world was crucial to address cross-border challenges.
Seven million people died from COVID-19, while the US has reported the first human death linked to bird flu on Tuesday. Cybercrime cost the world $2 trillion in 2023, he added.
“With pandemics, there is no other way than using the tools we have for early warnings. We have to come together and put all resources to move much faster than we did.
“COVID-19 was the worst pandemic we had seen in 100 years, but I don’t think it will take 100 years before we see the next pandemic,” warned Brende.
The report revealed that although cross-border assistance and pharmaceutical research and development have declined, and cooperation on trade in health goods and international regulations stalled, various health metrics including child and maternal mortality remained strong.
Goods trade declined by 5 percent, driven largely by slower growth in China and other developing economies, while global fragmentation continued to reduce trade between Western and Eastern-aligned blocs. However, Brende said a 3 percent increase in global trade is expected this year.
Despite this, the report found global flows of services, capital and people showed resilience. Foreign direct investment surged, particularly in strategic sectors including semiconductors and green energy, while labor migration and remittances rebounded strongly, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
“There should be enough common interest to collaborate even in a competitive world. So I hope that this Barometer will then be a useful tool for leaders around the world to know where we stand today, as well as the risks and opportunities we face,” he said.
The WEF’s annual meeting will convene global leaders under the theme “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.” The meeting aims to foster new partnerships and insights in an era of rapidly advancing technology.
Mediator Qatar confirms ‘technical meetings’ on Gaza truce ongoing
DOHA: Talks aimed at cementing a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas are ongoing, with “technical meetings” taking place between the parties, mediator Qatar’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.
“The technical meetings are still happening between both sides,” ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said, referring to meetings with lower-level officials on the details of an agreement. “There are no principal meetings taking place at the moment.”
Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been engaged in months of talks between Israel and Hamas that have failed to end the devastating conflict in Gaza.
Ansari said there were “a lot of issues that are being discussed” in the ongoing meetings, but declined to go into details “to protect the integrity of the negotiations.”
Hamas said at the end of last week that indirect negotiations in Doha had resumed, while Israel said it had authorized negotiators to continue the talks in the Qatari capital.
A previous round of mediation in December ended with both sides blaming the other for the impasse, with Hamas accusing Israel of setting “new conditions” and Israel accusing Hamas of throwing up “obstacles” to a deal.
In December, the gas-rich Gulf emirate expressed optimism that “momentum” was returning to the talks following Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States.
A month earlier, Doha had said it was putting its mediation on hold, and that it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed “willingness and seriousness.”
Syrian mayor says Israel collected arms from locals in Golan buffer zone
- Some Syrians seized weapons left behind by soldiers and security personnel, Mreiwel said, with the Israeli army dedicating an area for people to hand over those weapons
QUNEITRA: A Syrian mayor told AFP he had meetings with Israeli officers as the military conducted incursions in his village inside a Golan Heights buffer zone, saying they had demanded locals relinquish their weapons.
The Israeli military, contacted by AFP, said it could not comment.
Mohamed Mreiwel, mayor of the village of Jabata Al-Khashab in Quneitra province, said on Monday that he had met three times with Israeli officials who had asked to see him.
Israel, long a foe of Syria, has launched hundreds of strikes on Syrian military sites since the fall of president Bashar Assad on December 8, destroying most of the army’s arsenal, a war monitor has said.
The same day Assad was toppled by Islamist-led forces, Israel also announced that its troops were crossing the armistice line and occupying the UN-patrolled buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the strategic Golan Heights since 1974.
Mreiwel said that in his first meeting with the Israelis, “they asked for weapons to be handed over to them within 48 hours.”
Residents of the village, which is located in the buffer zone, had complied with the request, he said.
Syria’s army collapsed in the face of the rebel offensive, with thousands of soldiers, policemen and other security officials deserting their posts.
Some Syrians seized weapons left behind by soldiers and security personnel, Mreiwel said, with the Israeli army “dedicating an area for people to hand over those weapons.”
During his latest meeting with the Israelis on Sunday, “we told them that we no longer had any weapons and that if we had any, we would hand them over to the Syrian government,” said Mreiwel.
He added that he told the Israeli officials that “we are not allowed to meet with you,” as Syria and Israel are still technically at war and do not have diplomatic ties.
Israeli troops have conducted patrols on the main street of Jabata Al-Khashab, an AFP correspondent said.
Israeli tanks are also stationed in nearby Baath City, named for the now suspended political party that ran Syria for decades until Assad’s ousting.
Israel seized much of the Golan Heights from Syria in war in 1967, later annexing the territory in a move largely unrecognized by the international community.
Jordan, Syria to combat arms and drugs smuggling, resurgence of Daesh
DUBAI: Jordan and Syria have agreed to form a joint security committee to secure their border, combat arms and drug smuggling and work to prevent the resurgence of Daesh, Jordan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Western anti-narcotics officials say the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon is being mass-produced in Syria and that Jordan is a transit route to the oil-producing Gulf states.
Jordan’s army has conducted several pre-emptive airstrikes in Syria since 2023 which Jordanian officials say targeted militias accused of links to the drug trade and the militias’ facilities.
“We discussed securing the borders, especially the threat of arms and drugs smuggling and the resurgence of Islamic State. Our security is one, we will coordinate together to combat these mutual challenges,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safari told a joint press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani.
Shibani, who was in Amman after visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates following the fall of President Bashar Assad, told Safadi that drug smuggling would not pose a threat to Jordan under Syria’s new rule.
“The new situation in Syria ended the threats posed to Jordan’s security,” he said.
Referring to the addictive amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon, he said: “When it comes to captagon and drug smuggling, we promise it is over and won’t return. We are ready to cooperate on this extensively.”
