Iran Vows to Build New Enrichment Site In Response to Condemnation By UN Nuclear Watchdog

The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has condemned Iran for being in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost two decades, diplomatic sources have said.The agency's 35-nation board of governors passed a resolution to that effect on Thursday (June 12), they said.They said the motion, drafted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, was carried by 19 votes in favour. Russia, China and Burkina Faso opposed the motion, 11 abstained and two nations of the 35 did not vote.Iran responded defiantly to the resolution by announcing it would open a new enrichment site and upgrade centrifuges at the Fordow nuclear facility.'The Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to respond to this political resolution,' the Iranian foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said in a joint statement.Restored UN sanctions on Tehran possibleThe IAEA board 'Finds that Iran's many failures to uphold its obligations since 2019 to provide the Agency with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple undeclared locations in Iran … constitutes non-compliance with its obligations under its Safeguards Agreement with the Agency,' the resolution text, seen by the Reuters news agency, said.Thursday's move could lead to further tensions between the West and Iran over its nuclear program and pave the way for United Nations sanctions on Tehran to be restored later this year.Undeclared nuclear materialsThe resolution by the IAEA comes after Iran failed to give the agency credible explanations for the presence of uranium traces at undeclared sites in the country.The report by the agency at the end of May found that three of the four locations 'were part of an undeclared structured nuclear program carried out by Iran until the early 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material'.US intelligence services and the IAEA have suspected for some time that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program it halted in 2003.Iran has gradually been abandoning the commitments it made under the nuclear deal it agreed with world powers in 2015.That deal, which collapsed after the US withdrew from it in 2018 during US President Donald Trump's first term, lifted some sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Tehran's nuclear program.Growing Middle East tensionsThe IAEA resolution comes as tensions in the region have been rising.The US state department announced on Wednesday that it was pulling out people whom it considered non-essential to its operations in the Middle East.Staff reductions are being carried out at the US embassy, and there are reports that personnel are also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain over security concerns.President Donald Trump has also warned that Israel or the US could carry out airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities if ongoing US-Iran negotiations failed.Iran in its turn has responded with threats to hit US bases in the region if the US takes military action.Israel, Iran's regional arch-enemy, has meanwhile said the world must respond 'decisively' to Iran's non-compliance with its nuclear obligations.This article was originally published on DW.

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Business Standard

22 minutes ago

• Business Standard

With US airstrikes, Trump aims to deliver decisive blow to weakened Iran

President Donald Trump with his decision to order US military strikes on Iran's nuclear facility is gambling that direct US involvement can deliver a decisive blow to a weakened Tehran while managing to avoid bringing the US into an expansive regional conflict. Trump announced the strikes on three Iranian enrichment facilities Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan and said that a full payload of BOMBS was dropped on Fordo. All planes are safely on their way home, Trump added in his post. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! It remained to be seen whether the attacks mark the totality of direct American involvement in strikes against Iran or the opening salvo of a larger campaign. The decision to directly involve the US comes after more than a week of strikes by Israel on Iran that have moved to systematically eradicate the country's air defences and offensive missile capabilities, while damaging its nuclear enrichment facilities. The strikes are a perilous decision for the US, as Iran has pledged to retaliate if it joined the Israeli assault. The stakes are also high for Trump personally he won the White House on the promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts and scoffed at the value of American interventionism. US and Israeli officials have said that American stealth bombers and the US 30,000-pound bunker buster bombs offered the best chance of destroying heavily fortified sites connected to the Iranian nuclear programme buried deep underground, including at Fordo. It was not immediately clear if the US bombers did in fact drop the bunker busters on the Iranian facilities. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the United States in advance that strikes targeting the Islamic Republic would result in irreparable damage for them. And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei declared any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the damage inflicted by the bombings. Trump has vowed that he would not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and he had initially hoped that the threat of force would motivate the country's leaders to give up their nuclear programme peacefully. But Trump appears to have made the calculation at the prodding of Israeli officials and many Republican lawmakers that Israel's operation had softened the ground and presented a perhaps unparalleled opportunity to set back Iran's nuclear program, perhaps permanently. The Israelis have said their offensive has already crippled Iran's air defences, allowing them to already significantly degrade multiple Iranian nuclear sites. But to destroy the Fordo nuclear fuel enrichment plant, Israel had appealed to Trump for the US bunker-busting bombs, the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its immense weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode. The penetrator is currently only delivered by the B-2 stealth bomber, which is only found in the American arsenal. The bomb carries a conventional warhead, and is believed to be able to penetrate about 200 feet below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that Iran is producing highly enriched uranium at Fordo, raising the possibility that nuclear material could be released into the area if the GBU-57 A/B were used to hit the facility. Trump's decision for direct US military intervention comes after his administration made an unsuccessful two-month push including with high-level, direct negotiations with the Iranians aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear programme. For months, Trump said he was dedicated to a diplomatic push to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. And he twice in April and again in late May persuaded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on military action against Iran and give diplomacy more time. The US in recent days has been shifting military aircraft and warships into and around the Middle East to protect Israel and US bases from Iranian attacks. All the while, Trump has gone from publicly expressing hope that the moment could be a second chance for Iran to make a deal to delivering explicit threats on Khamenei and making calls for Tehran's unconditional surrender. We know exactly where the so-called Supreme Leader' is hiding, Trump said in a social media posting. He is an easy target, but is safe there - We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now." The military showdown with Iran comes seven years after Trump withdrew the US from the Obama-administration brokered agreement in 2018, calling it the worst deal ever. The 2015 deal, signed by Iran, US and other world powers, created a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump decried the Obama-era deal for giving Iran too much in return for too little, because the agreement did not cover Iran's non-nuclear malign behaviour. Trump has bristled at criticism from some of his MAGA faithful, including conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who have suggested that further US involvement would be a betrayal to supporters who were drawn to his promise to end US involvement in expensive and endless wars. Vice President JD Vance in a lengthy posting on X earlier this week defended his boss, while acknowledging that "people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy. But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue, Vance wrote. He added, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people's goals. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Business Standard

23 minutes ago

• Business Standard

Trump wins immediate praise from Republicans after announcing Iran strikes

Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Trump has made a deliberate and correct decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime AP Washington Congressional Republicans and at least one Democrat immediately praised President Donald Trump after he said Saturday evening that the US military bombed three sites in Iran. Well done, President Trump, Sen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina posted on X. Texas Sen John Cornyn called it a courageous and correct decision. Alabama Sen Katie Britt called the bombings strong and surgical. Oklahoma Sen Markwayne Mullin posted: America first, always. The Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, said Trump has made a deliberate and correct decision to eliminate the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime. Wicker posted on X that we now have very serious choices ahead to provide security for our citizens and our allies. The quick endorsements of stepped up US involvement in Iran came after Trump had publicly mulled the strikes for days and many congressional Republicans had cautiously said they thought he would make the right decision. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Saturday evening that as we take action tonight to ensure a nuclear weapon remains out of reach for Iran, I stand with President Trump and pray for the American troops and personnel in harm's way. Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson were briefed ahead of the strikes on Saturday, according to people familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. Johnson said in a statement that the military operations should serve as a clear reminder to our adversaries and allies that President Trump means what he says. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rick Crawford said he had also been in touch with the White House and I am grateful to the US service members who carried out these precise and successful strikes." Breaking from many of his Democratic colleagues, Sen John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, an outspoken supporter of Israel, also praised the attacks on Iran. As I've long maintained, this was the correct move by @POTUS, he posted. Iran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and cannot have nuclear capabilities. Both parties have seen splits in recent days over the prospect of striking Iran. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican and a longtime opponent of US involvement in foreign wars, posted on X after Trump announced the attacks that This is not Constitutional. Many Democrats have maintained that Congress should have a say. The Senate was scheduled to vote as soon as this week on a resolution by Virginia Sen Tim Kaine requiring congressional approval before the US declared war on Iran or took specific military action. Connecticut Rep Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House intelligence panel, posted on X after Trump's announcement: According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop.

Business Standard

23 minutes ago

• Business Standard

Iran's key nuclear sites 'totally obliterated' by airstrikes, says Trump

In his first speech after the US strikes on Iran, Trump warned that Iran faces "either peace or tragedy" and said many more targets remain within reach of the American military Reuters WASHINGTON US forces struck three Iranian nuclear sites in a "very successful attack," President Donald Trump said late on Saturday, and he warned Tehran it would face more attacks if it did not agree to peace. After days of deliberation and long before his self-imposed two-week deadline, Trump's decision to join Israel's military campaign against its major rival Iran represents a major escalation of the conflict. "The strikes were a spectacular military success," Trump said in a televised Oval Office address. "Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated." In a speech that lasted just over three minutes, Trump said Iran's future held "either peace or tragedy," and that there were many other targets that could be hit by the US military. "If peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill." The US reached out to Iran diplomatically on Saturday to say the strikes are all the US plans and it does not aim for regime change, CBS News reported. Trump said US forces struck Iran's three principal nuclear sites: Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. He told Fox News six bunker-buster bombs were dropped on Fordow, while 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired against other nuclear sites. US B-2 bombers were involved in the strikes, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," Trump posted. "Fordow is gone." "IRAN MUST NOW AGREE TO END THIS WAR," he added. Reuters had reported earlier on Saturday the movement of the B-2 bombers, which can be equipped to carry massive bombs that experts say would be needed to strike Fordow, which is buried under a mountain south of Tehran. Given its fortification, it will likely be days, if not longer, before the impact of the strikes is known. An Iranian official, cited by Tasnim news agency, confirmed that part of the Fordow site was attacked by "enemy airstrikes." Hassan Abedini, deputy political head of Iran's state broadcaster, said Iran had evacuated the three sites some time ago. “The enriched uranium reserves had been transferred from the nuclear centres and there are no materials left there that, if targeted, would cause radiation and be harmful to our compatriots,â€� he told the channel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on his "bold decision". "History will record that President Trump acted to deny the world's most dangerous regime, the world's most dangerous weapons," Netanyahu said. Diplomacy unsuccessful The strikes came as Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat that has resulted in deaths and injuries in both countries. Israel launched the attacks on Iran saying that it wanted to remove any chance of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Diplomatic efforts by Western nations to stop the hostilities have been unsuccessful. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Saturday's strikes a "dangerous escalation in a region already on the edge â€' and a direct threat to international peace and security." In recent days, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have argued that Trump must receive permission from the US Congress before committing the US military to any combat against Iran. Republican Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi applauded the operation but cautioned that the US now faced "very serious choices ahead." One Republican lawmaker, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, simply said, "This is not constitutional." Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said it was "absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment." Many in Trump's MAGA movement have opposed US entanglement in foreign military operations. Trump ally Steve Bannon said on his War Room podcast that the president's address was probably not what a lot of MAGA supporters wanted to hear, and he called on Trump to offer a "deeper explanation" for why US involvement was necessary. Trump-aligned commentator Charlie Kirk posted on X: "America stands with President Trump." Israel launched attacks on June 13, saying Iran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons, which it neither confirms nor denies. At least 430 people have been killed and 3,500 injured in Iran since Israel began its attacks, Iranian state-run Nour News said, citing the health ministry. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed by Iranian missile attacks, according to local authorities, in the worst conflict between the longtime enemies. More than 450 Iranian missiles have been fired towards Israel, according to the Israeli prime minister's office. Israeli officials said 1,272 people have been injured since the beginning of the hostilities, with 14 in serious condition.