Tehran has told an Iranian delegation in Paris for nuclear talks with representative of the EU's big three to adopt a tough stance in their discussions, sources close to the Iranian parliament said yesterday.
"We are on the verge of either giving in forever to politicized demands initiated by the United States, or making clear that countries like Iran cannot be simply deprived of legitimate rights such as peaceful nuclear technology," the parliamentary sources said.
Iranian officials from the foreign ministry and atomic energy organization are involved in reportedly difficult talks in Paris with representatives from the UK, France and Germany over Iran's controversial nuclear program.
"Before going into any details, the main question in Paris remains whether Iran should have the right to have peaceful nuclear projects or not," the sources said.
"The three EU states had in October last year granted Iran the basic right to have such a technology and even promised assistance but later revised their standpoint due to what Tehran believes was American pressure," the sources added.
Tehran has called on the EU to stick to agreements made last October and not let the nature of the issue become political.
The EU three, in line with the International Atomic Energy Agency, have charged Iran with not fully disclosing information about its nuclear program.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and