IAEA: No Evidence of Systematic Iranian Nuclear Weapons Development
Ahmed Emam
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that there is no evidence of systematic Iranian activities aimed at developing nuclear weapons, according to a Alqahera News.
The announcement comes amid heightened international scrutiny over Iran's nuclear program, particularly in light of ongoing tensions in the Middle East. The IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, has long been tasked with monitoring Iran's nuclear facilities and ensuring compliance with international agreements.
While the agency has previously expressed concerns about Iran's lack of full transparency and cooperation, this latest assessment suggests that Iran is not currently engaged in any organized effort to weaponize its nuclear capabilities.
The statement is likely to impact diplomatic discussions, especially as world powers continue to debate the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal from which the United States withdrew in 2018.
The IAEA's findings may bolster Tehran's claims that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes, even as Western countries remain cautious over Iran's uranium enrichment levels and reduced cooperation with inspectors.
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Al-Ahram Weekly
38 minutes ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
🔴 LIVE UPDATES: Arab foreign ministers condemn Israeli strikes on Iran, call for diplomatic solutions - Region
Ahram Online provides live coverage of the unfolding military confrontation between Israel and Iran as the two sides waged deadly strikes against one another for the ninth day in a row. Related Governments scramble to evacuate citizens from Israel, Iran UN Security Council meets Friday to discuss Israel-Iran war, as Tel Aviv, Tehran conflict escalates - as it happened 'Iran will not surrender, and any American attack will have irreparable consequences' - Khamenei Israel and Iran exchanged fresh attacks early Saturday, marking the ninth consecutive day of hostilities since Israel launched strikes on 13 June. Around 2.30am local time, Israel's military reported an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Explosions were heard over central Israel as air defences responded. An Israeli military official said five ballistic missiles were fired, with no reports of casualties or impacts, according to the Guardian. Overnight, Israel said it targeted Iranian missile storage and launch infrastructure. The military claimed 'very significant' results, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told German newspaper Bild that the strikes had delayed Iran's nuclear capabilities by two to three years. Iran, which says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes, rejected calls for 'zero enrichment' as long as Israeli attacks persisted. A senior official told Reuters Tehran remained open to talks on enrichment limits if its right to peaceful nuclear development was recognised. Since Israel launched attacks, Israeli bombing has killed at least 639 people and wounded 1,326, according to Iranian media, while Iranian missiles have killed at least 25 people and wounded hundreds in Israel, the Guardian reported. The UN Security Council convened an emergency session Friday at Iran's request. Secretary-General António Guterres warned the world was 'racing toward' a major crisis and urged urgent dialogue. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reported damage to four buildings at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site and warned a strike on the Bushehr plant could cause a serious radioactive release. Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed the Nimitz carrier strike group is being deployed to the region. The USS Carl Vinson remains in the Middle East, while the USS Gerald R. Ford is scheduled to depart for Europe on 24 June. US President Donald Trump publicly rebuked intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard for saying there was no evidence Iran was pursuing a nuclear weapon. Gabbard later said her comments were taken out of context. 12:00 Arab foreign ministers strongly condemned recent Israeli airstrikes on Iran during their meeting in Istanbul ahead of the 51st session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers, Tehran Times reported. The ministers urged an immediate end to the military escalation and warned of dire consequences for regional stability if hostilities continued. They convened for an emergency session to address escalating tensions, particularly in light of Israel's attacks on Iran that began on June 13. In a final statement issued Friday, the Arab League called the Israeli strikes 'a blatant violation of the sovereignty of a UN member state and a threat to regional peace and security". Based on the statement, the ministers appealed to the United Nations Security Council to take urgent action, stressing that continued inaction risks further destabilization of the Middle East. 11:30 Israel's first responders said a drone had hit a residential building in northern Israel after the army reported an intrusion in the Beit She'an valley, AFP reported. "A drone strike hit a two-storey residential building in northern Israel", the Magen David Adom said in a statement, adding that its rescue teams found no visible casualties as they arrived. 11:00 A senior United Arab Emirates official urged an immediate end to the Iran-Israel war, warning that a prolonged conflict would have severe consequences for the region, AFP reported. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the war was undermining Gulf efforts to build stability and prosperity. 'The longer a war takes, the more dangerous it becomes,' he told reporters on Friday. 'Any extended confrontation or war between Israel and Iran will only bring a very difficult aftermath.' Gargash stressed the importance of de-escalation and said a return to negotiations was still possible. He also cited the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq as a warning, saying the region was still dealing with its fallout. One major risk, he noted, was disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of global oil output. 'This war flies in the face of the regional order the Gulf countries want to build,' he said. 'We feel that this is setting us back—not only the UAE, but the region.' 10:45 Police in Iran's Qom province said 22 people "linked to Israeli spy services" had been arrested since June 13. "22 people were identified and arrested on charges of being linked to the Zionist regime's spy services, disturbing public opinion and supporting the criminal regime," Fars news agency reported, citing the head of police intelligence in Iran's Qom province. A European national was also arrested for spying,Tasnim reported on Friday, without giving their nationality or the date of the arrest. 10:30 Iran's Revolutionary Guards said five of its members were killed in Israeli attacks on the city of Khorramabad, Iranian media reported, according to Reuters. Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military had killed a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force in a strike on an apartment in Qom. The commander, Saeed Izadi, led the force's Palestine Corps, Katz said in a statement quoted by Reuters. 10:00 Israel's military said its navy struck a Hezbollah-linked site near the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura overnight, a day after Israel's foreign minister warned the group against entering the conflict with Iran. According to the military, the target belonged to Hezbollah's Radwan Force and was described as an infrastructure site used to plan attacks against Israeli civilians. Israel provided no evidence to support the claims. In a separate statement, the military said it had 'struck and eliminated' a Hezbollah member in south Lebanon on Friday, despite a ceasefire between the two sides. Lebanon's health ministry said one person was killed in a drone strike targeting a motorcycle in the same village, according to the state-run National News Agency. 9:30 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Istanbul for a meeting with Arab League diplomats to discuss the escalating conflict with Israel, The Guardian reported, citing the semi-official Tasnim news agency. Around 40 diplomats are expected to attend the weekend session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as missile exchanges between Israel and Iran continue, according to AFP. Araghchi's visit follows talks in Geneva on Friday with counterparts from Britain, France and Germany. 'At this meeting, at the suggestion of Iran, the issue of the Zionist regime's attack on our country will be specifically addressed,' Tasnim quoted him as saying. According to the Turkish state news agency Anadolu, cited by The Guardian, Arab League ministers are expected to issue a statement following the meeting. 9:00 Iran's Fars news agency reported that Israel attacked the Isfahan nuclear site in the early hours of Saturday. Citing a security official, it said multiple Israeli strikes had been carried out, with most explosions linked to air defence activity. There was no "leakage of hazardous materials," the official was quoted as saying. Iranian media also said Israel attacked a building in the city of Qom, with initial reports of a 16-year-old killed and two people injured. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
an hour ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention - War on Gaza
Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student who was one of the most visible leaders of nationwide pro-Palestinian campus protests, was released Friday from a federal detention center. Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, has been in custody since March facing potential deportation. "This shouldn't have taken three months," Khalil, wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, told US media outside an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana hours after a federal judge ordered his release. "(President Donald) Trump and his administration, they chose the wrong person for this," he said. "There's no right person who should be detained for actually protesting a genocide." The Department of Homeland Security criticized District Judge Michael Farbiarz's ruling Friday as an example of how "out of control members of the judicial branch are undermining our national security." Under the terms of his release, Khalil will not be allowed to leave the United States except for "self-deportation," and faces restrictions on where he can travel within the country. Khalil's wife, Michigan-born dentist Noor Abdalla, said her family could now "finally breathe a sigh of relief and know that Mahmoud is on his way home." "We know this ruling does not begin to address the injustices the Trump administration has brought upon our family and so many others the government is trying to silence for speaking out against Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians," added Abdalla, who gave birth to the couple's first child while her husband was in detention. Visas revoked Since his 8 March arrest by US immigration authorities, Khalil has become a symbol of the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian student activism over the Gaza war, conflating criticism of Israel's genocidal campaign with antisemitism. At the time a graduate student at Columbia University in New York, Khalil was a prominent leader of nationwide campus protests against Israel's Gaza war. Following his arrest, US authorities transferred Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian parents, nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) from his home in New York to the detention center in Louisiana, pending deportation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has invoked a law approved during the 1950s Red Scare that allows the United States to remove foreigners seen as adverse to US foreign policy. Rubio argues that US constitutional protections of free speech do not apply to foreigners and that he alone can make decisions without judicial review. Hundreds of students have seen their visas revoked, with some saying they were targeted for everything from writing opinion articles to minor arrest records. Farbiarz ruled last week that the government could not detain or deport Khalil based on Rubio's assertions that his presence on US soil poses a national security threat. The government has also alleged as grounds to detain and deport Khalil that there were inaccuracies in his application for permanent residency. Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, which is among the groups representing Khalil, welcomed the release order. "This is an important step in vindicating Mr Khalil's rights as he continues to be unlawfully targeted by the federal government for his advocacy in support of Palestinian rights," Sinha said. *This story was edited by Ahram Online. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Middle East
an hour ago
- Middle East
OPEN// PM starts tour at Ain Sokhna port to follow up importing natural gas
CAIRO, June 21 (MENA) - Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli asserted on Saturday that the Egyptian government is actively working to secure the country's natural gas needs by enhancing the infrastructure required to receive imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). This move aims at boosting the efficiency and flexibility of Egypt's gas supply system to meet the growing domestic demand, particularly during the high-consumption summer months, he added. This came during an inspection tour on Saturday at Ain Sokhna port where Madbouli emphasized that these efforts are part of a broader, integrated package of measures being implemented by various ministries to ensure the stability of the national electricity grid. He particularly highlighted the importance of energy security in light of recent regional developments, notably the Israeli military operation in Iran. During the visit, Madbouli inspected the LNG regasification vessel Energos Eskimo, reflecting the government's commitment to strengthening energy security and ensuring the sustainability of gas supplies. He was accompanied by Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Karim Badawi. Madbouli revealed that Egypt is set to operate three regasification vessels starting from July. He also announced that a fourth regasification vessel would be held in reserve as a contingency measure to ensure continued availability of petroleum products and enhance national energy security. (MENA) M H K/Y R E
