Iran yesterday said it would launch a series of “new and advanced” centrifuges in response to a resolution adopted by the UN nuclear watchdog that censures Tehran for what the agency called lack of cooperation.
The censure motion brought by Britain, France, Germany and the US at the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) follows a similar one in June.
The resolution — which China, Russia and Burkina Faso voted against — was carried with 19 votes in favor, 12 abstentions and Venezuela not participating, two diplomats said.
Photo: EPA
“The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran issued an order to take effective measures, including launching a significant series of new and advanced centrifuges of various types,” a joint statement by the organization and Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Centrifuges are the machines that enrich uranium transformed into gas by rotating it at very high speed, increasing the proportion of fissile isotope material (U-235).
“At the same time, technical and safeguards cooperation with the IAEA will continue, as in the past” and within the framework of agreements made by Iran, the joint statement added.
Iran’s retaliatory measures “are reversible if this [Western] hostile action is withdrawn or negotiations are opened,” Tehran-based political analyst Hadi Mohammadi said.
The resolution comes with tensions running high over Iran’s atomic program, with critics fearing that Tehran is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon — a claim it has repeatedly denied.
The confidential resolution seen by Agence France-Presse says it is “essential and urgent” for Iran to “act to fulfil its legal obligations” under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ratified in 1970.
The NPT requires signatory states to declare and place their nuclear materials under the control of the IAEA.
The text also calls on Tehran to provide “technically credible explanations” for the presence of uranium particles found at two undeclared locations in Iran.
In addition, Western powers are asking for a “comprehensive report” to be issued by the IAEA on Iran’s nuclear efforts “at the latest” by spring next year.
The resolution comes just as IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi returned from a trip to Tehran last week, where he appeared to have made headway.
During the visit, Iran agreed to an IAEA demand to cap its sensitive stock of near weapons-grade uranium enriched up to 60 percent purity.
“Iran did not start the cycle of provocation — the Western side could, without passing a resolution ... create the atmosphere for negotiations if it really was after talks,” expert Hadi Mohammadi said.
In 2015, Iran and world powers reached an agreement that involved the easing of international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon — something it has always denied seeking to do.
However, the US unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump and reimposed biting economic sanctions, which prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.
On Thursday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi warned of Iran’s potential next step.
“Iran had announced in an official letter to European countries that it would withdraw from the NPT if the snapback mechanism was activated, and the [UN] Security Council sanctions were reinstated,” Gharibabadi said in a late-night interview with state TV.
The 2015 deal contains a “snapback” mechanism that can be triggered in case of “significant non-performance” of its commitments by Iran. This would allow the UN Security Council to reimpose all the sanctions it had imposed between 2006 and 2015 over Tehran’s nuclear activities.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS