Iran is pushing ahead with its nuclear program in defiance of tougher sanctions, the UN atomic watchdog said in a new report that Washington called “troubling,” but Tehran dismissed as “not balanced.”
The confidential report, obtained by reporters on Monday, says the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) remains concerned about possible work in Iran to develop a nuclear-armed missile.
The IAEA also warned that Iranian refusal to accept some of the agency’s choices of nuclear inspectors was hampering its activities in the Islamic republic, which rejects Western accusations it is seeking to build nuclear bombs.
“This is a pretty critical report and it seems the sides have reached an impasse,” said David Albright, head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.
The US said it showed that Tehran was still trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability.
“The IAEA’s reports of obstruction and Iran’s failure to cooperate are troubling to all who care about non-proliferation and global security,” White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, said the report by new agency chief Yukiya Amano “has damaged the agency’s technical reputation” and was “not balanced” compared to those of his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei.
He said all of Iran’s nuclear activities were under the IAEA’s “complete supervision,” Mehr News Agency reported.
The eight-year international dispute over Iran’s atomic activities has the potential to set off a regional arms race and spark a conflict in the Middle East.
The West hopes the imposition since June of additional UN, US and European sanctions on the country will persuade the Iranian leadership to back down and halt sensitive atomic work. Iran has repeatedly rejected such demands and is sending mixed signals about its readiness to negotiate with the West, offering unconditional talks on a plan to swap nuclear fuel, but setting terms for any broader discussions.
The IAEA report voiced concern about what it called Iran’s “repeated” objections to its appointments of inspectors, saying this “hampers the inspection process” and effectiveness of its work in the Islamic state.
Tehran barred two UN nuclear inspectors from entering in June, accusing them of reporting wrongly that some equipment was missing. There have been similar cases in the past.
A diplomat familiar with the IAEA’s Iran investigation said this increased “pressure” on the inspectors.
Albright said: “It shows the erosion of the IAEA’s ability to do its job.”
The IAEA for years has been investigating Western intelligence reports indicating Iran has coordinated efforts to process uranium, to stage missile tests and to revamp a ballistic missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear warhead.
Tehran says the intelligence is forged, but its record of secrecy has stoked suspicions, heightened by the launch in February of higher-grade uranium enrichment of 20 percent fissile purity, bringing it closer to weapons-grade material.
The IAEA said Iran had produced about 2.8 tonnes of low-enriched uranium (LEU), up from 2.4 tonnes in May, as well as 22kg of the higher-grade material.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Indonesia and Malaysia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, after authorities said it was being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images. The moves reflect growing global concern over generative AI tools that can produce realistic images, sound and text, while existing safeguards fail to prevent their abuse. The Grok chatbot, which is accessed through Musk’s social media platform X, has been criticized for generating manipulated images, including depictions of women in bikinis or sexually explicit poses, as well as images involving children. Regulators in the two Southeast Asian
RSS