Iran yesterday confirmed that it had stepped up uranium enrichment beyond the limits of its nuclear deal with world powers, amid heightened tensions with the US and after it seized a South Korean tanker in strategic Gulf waters.
The Islamic republic said it was now refining uranium to 20 percent purity — far above the level permitted under its 2015 agreement, but significantly below the 90 percent required for an atomic bomb — in a step Washington condemned as “nuclear extortion.”
The EU noted Iran’s steps “with deep concern” and planned to “redouble our efforts to preserve the agreement and return to its full implementation by all parties,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said.
Photo: Reuters
It was the most striking suspension yet of Tehran’s commitments under its landmark deal with six nations, which has been fraying ever since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions.
A war of words has flared again in the final weeks of the Trump presidency, and at a time when Iran and its allies have marked one year since a US drone strike in Baghdad killed Iran’s top military commander, Qassem Soleimani.
Commemorations in honor of Soleimani — whom the US blamed for attacks on its interests in Iraq and elsewhere — saw angry mourners in Iraq chant anti-US slogans, but passed without violence.
The Iranian armed forces on Monday also announced a two-day drill of domestically made drones, including “combat, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare.”
On Monday, its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a dramatic action on the high seas, near the strategic Straits of Hormuz, a chokepoint through which a fifth of world oil output passes.
Its speedboats seized the South Korean-flagged Hankuk Chemi carrying oil chemical products and its multinational crew of 20, accusing it of having polluted sea waters.
South Korea has demanded the ship’s release and deployed a destroyer carrying its anti-piracy unit to the area.
Seoul is to send a government delegation to Iran “at the earliest possible date” to negotiate the release of the vessel and its crew, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Iran’s move came after it had urged Seoul to release billions of dollars of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea as part of the US sanctions.
“We are not hostage-takers,” Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said.
“We are used to such allegations... It is the government of [South] Korea that has taken over US$7 billion of ours hostage on baseless grounds,” he said.
South Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong-kun would go ahead with a planned three-day trip to Tehran early next week, his office said.
SECRET OUT: Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung yesterday accidentally revealed that the infections occurred at the ministry’s Taoyuan General Hospital The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the fifth COVID-19 case in a cluster infection at a Taoyuan hospital, where four other medical workers were confirmed to have been infected over the past week. The latest case is a nurse who had tested negative on Tuesday last week, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, told a news conference. However, on Thursday, she developed symptoms, such as nasal congestion and a cough, and a second test yesterday found that she was infected, Chen said. She is the head nurse of a ward where two
VIGILANCE: While two of the cases are family members of a nurse, there is no sign of community spread and the source of infection is identifiable, the CECC said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported four new domestic COVID-19 cases associated with a cluster infection at a Taoyuan hospital. Since the first case was identified on Tuesday last week, five healthcare workers — two doctors and three nurses — at the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Taoyuan General Hospital have tested positive for the virus. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said that two of the four new cases are the husband and daughter of a nurse (case No. 863) who had earlier been confirmed to have COVID-19. The husband (case No. 864)
PILLARS OF DEMOCRACY: US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft posted online after the virtual meeting that Taiwan should be able to share its successes in global venues President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft yesterday held a virtual meeting, during which Tsai described Taiwan as a “force for good” that deserves a place on the world stage, while Craft reaffirmed Washington’s support for Taiwan’s international participation. The virtual talk was held at about 11am, after Craft’s trip to Taiwan was abruptly canceled. She had been scheduled to meet with Tsai in person at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday morning as part of a three-day visit to Taiwan. On Tuesday, the US Department of State canceled all of its planned trips, citing a need
‘CONTAINED’: The CECC is not considering locking down the hospital where the infections were detected, as their source has been found, Chen Shih-chung said The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported one new domestic COVID-19 case, a doctor at a hospital in northern Taiwan where three other medical workers were confirmed to have the disease over the past week. The new case — No. 856 — is a doctor who had treated a COVID-19 patient together with case No. 838, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. Case No. 838, confirmed as a locally infected COVID-19 case on Tuesday, was the first case in the hospital cluster, and later infected his partner, who is a nurse at the same
RSS