VIENNA: Iran has resumed enriching uranium at a similar rate as at the start of the year, the IAEA said Tuesday, as the country accelerates its nuclear program while denying it is developing a bomb.
Iran has “increased its production of highly enriched uranium, reversing a previous output reduction from mid-2023,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement.
Iran has increased its production of 60 percent enriched uranium to a rate of about 9 kilogrammes (20 pounds) a month since the end of November. That’s up from about 3 kilogrammes a month since June, and a return to the 9 kilogrammes a month it was producing during the first half of 2023, the IAEA said.
“On 19 and 24 December, IAEA inspectors verified the rate of production of uranium enriched to this level at the two facilities where Iran is carrying out these activities — the Natanz Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant and the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant,” it said.
Nuclear weapons require uranium enriched to 90 percent, while 3.67 percent is enough for nuclear power stations.
Iran appeared to have slowed its enrichment as a gesture while informal talks for a nuclear treaty had resumed with the United States.
But animosity between the two countries has intensified in recent months, with each one accusing the other of exacerbating the war between Israel and Hamas.
In November, a confidential IAEA report seen by AFP indicated that Iran’s enriched uranium stocks were 22 times the limits authorized in the 2015 accord limiting Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for lifting sanctions.
That accord fell apart in 2018 when then president Donald Trump pulled out the United States.
His successor Joe Biden has tried to revive the accord through talks in Vienna, but the process has been at a standstill since the summer of 2022.
Iran, which has supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has prevented IAEA inspections and disconnected surveillance cameras installed at its nuclear program sites.
In November, it held 567.1 kilogrammes of uranium enriched at 20 percent and 128.3 kilogrammes at 60 percent, three times what would be needed to build an atomic bomb if enriched to 90 percent.
Iran resumes pace of 60 percent uranium enrichment, IAEA says
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Iran resumes pace of 60 percent uranium enrichment, IAEA says
- Iran increased its production of 60 percent enriched uranium to a rate of about 9 kg a month since the end of November
Palestinians met requirements for Israel to extend banking waiver, source says
WASHINGTON: Israel’s requirements for the indemnification needed to allow Israeli banks to continue conducting transactions with Palestinian banks have been met by the Palestinian authorities, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Technical experts argue that should warrant an extension of a current indemnification — set to lapse on Oct. 31 — for at least a year to avert an economic crisis in the West Bank, the source said.
US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, who last month warned Israel that allowing the banking relationships to lapse would put its own security at risk, spoke on Monday with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, according to the source. They discussed security and economic issues, as well as the authority’s efforts to improve its anti-money-laundering and countering-the-financing-of-terrorism regime.
Adeyemo noted the authority’s progress on the issue, including completing key milestones for assessing risks within its jurisdiction and bolstering effective compliance with international standards, the source said.
Israel’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lebanon security source says planes switch runways after Israeli strike near Beirut airport
BEIRUT: A Lebanese security official told AFP that the country’s national airline had to switch landing strips on Monday after Israeli strikes near Beirut’s only international airport hit close to the main runway.
“Middle East Airlines switched the runway it was using because the main runway is close to the site of the Ouzai strike,” the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Hezbollah hides millions in cash, gold under Beirut hospital, says Israel
- There are hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold inside the bunker right now, Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari says
JERUSALEM: Hezbollah has stashed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker built under a hospital in Beirut, Israel’s military said on Monday, adding it will not strike the facility as it keeps up attacks against the group’s financial assets.
Fadi Alameh, a Lebanese lawmaker with the Shiite Amal Movement party and the director of the hospital in question, Al-Sahel, told Reuters that Israel was making false and slanderous claims and called on the Lebanese Army to visit and show it only had operating rooms, patients and a morgue.
Alameh said the hospital was being evacuated. Israel’s military said it was not going to strike the facility.
Reuters could not independently verify the details provided by the Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, which he said had been collected by Israeli intelligence for years.
Hezbollah could not immediately be reached for comment.
In a televised statement, Hagari said Hezbollah’s former leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whom Israel killed last month, had built the bunker which was designed for lengthy stays.
“There are hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold inside the bunker right now. I’m calling on the Lebanese government, Lebanese authorities, and the international organizations — don’t allow Hezbollah to use the money for terror and to attack Israel,” Hagari said.
“The Israeli Air Force is monitoring the compound, as you can see. However, we will not strike the hospital itself,” Hagari said.
Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi told troops in Lebanon that overnight between Sunday and Monday, aircraft had struck around 30 sites belonging to Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which Israel says is Hezbollah’s financial arm.
Hagari said more strikes against Hezbollah financial sites were to continue.
Fire extinguished at Syria’s Homs refinery, state media says
CAIRO: Firefighting teams and civil defense forces extinguished a fire that broke out at the gas department of Syria’s Homs refinery, state media reported early on Tuesday.
Cooling operations are currently being carried out, it added.
Queen Rania meets young entrepreneurs in Jordan
- Program had been supported by her sponsorship initiative
AMMAN: Queen Rania met a group of young Jordanians in Amman on Monday to discuss their income-generating projects, as part of a program previously supported by her sponsorship initiative.
The sponsorship scheme, which aimed to empower young entrepreneurs, has successfully backed 190 youth-led projects across Jordan.
The schemes were primarily selected by civil society organizations with support from the Jordan River Foundation, utilizing its own community empowerment programs, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The entrepreneurs shared insights into their initiatives at the meeting, detailing the job opportunities they had created and the vocational and professional skills developed among fellow Jordanians.
They highlighted several success stories that demonstrated the positive impact of the ventures on their lives and communities and, rather than pursuing traditional employment routes, had showed their commitment to following their passions and launching unconventional projects.
Each participant in Queen Rania’s sponsorship program had already established a small project, successfully creating between one and three part-time or full-time jobs prior to receiving support.
The initiative aimed to provide young leaders with the necessary resources and mentorship to expand their businesses further to enhance their social impact.
