Latest news with #RafaelGrossi
Barnama
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Barnama
IAEA To Continue Inspections In Iran When Security Conditions Permit
BERLIN, June 20 (Bernama-TASS) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will continue its inspections in Iran in accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as soon as security conditions permit, said IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, according to TASS. "The Agency is and will remain present in Iran. Safeguards inspections in Iran will continue as required by Iran's safeguards obligations under its NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) Safeguards Agreement, as soon as safety and security conditions allow," the IAEA press service quoted him as saying. Israel began to launch airstrikes against Iran on June 13, targeting multiple locations including on its nuclear programme, prompting Iran to carry out retaliatory attack.
Free Malaysia Today
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
IAEA chief confirms Isfahan as Iran's new uranium enrichment site
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi says Iran's announcement of the new site was part of its retaliation against the agency. (EPA Images pic) VIENNA : UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on Thursday identified Isfahan, home to one of Iran's biggest nuclear facilities, as the location of a uranium enrichment plant that Iran said it would soon open in retaliation for a diplomatic push against it. The day before Israel launched its military strikes against Iranian targets including nuclear facilities last Friday, Iran announced it had built a new uranium enrichment facility, which it would soon equip and bring online. Tehran did not provide details such as the plant's location. Iran's announcement was part of its retaliation against a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Tehran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations over issues including its failure to credibly explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites. Had it gone online, the new enrichment plant would have been the fourth in operation in Iran. But Israel's attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities destroyed one of those plants and put another out of action by killing its power supply, the IAEA has said. 'There was an announcement, quite coincidentally, on the eve of the start of the military operation by Israel of a new enrichment facility in Isfahan, precisely, that we were going to be inspecting immediately, but this inspection had to be postponed, we hope, because of the start of the military operation,' Grossi said. He did not say where exactly in Isfahan the planned plant was, but he said the nuclear complex there is 'huge'. The IAEA has previously reported that Israeli military strikes on Friday damaged four buildings at Isfahan, including the Uranium Conversion Facility that transforms 'yellowcake' uranium into the uranium hexafluoride feedstock for centrifuges so that it can be enriched. Grossi told the BBC on Monday that the 'underground spaces' at Isfahan did not seem to have been affected. Officials say those spaces are also where much of Iran's most highly enriched uranium stock has been stored. The IAEA has not, however, been able to carry out any inspections since the strikes.
CNN
8 hours ago
- Politics
- CNN
Live updates: Israel and Iran trade strikes as Trump weighs US involvement
Update: Date: 5 min ago Title: UN nuclear watchdog findings are not a basis for military action, organization's head says Content: Evidence gathered on Iran's nuclear program by the International Atomic Energy Agency can 'hardly be a basis for any military action,' the organization's head said Thursday. 'Military action, from wherever it comes, is a political decision that has nothing to do with what we're saying,' Rafael Grossi told CNN's Anderson Cooper. After launching its first wave of strikes on Iran, Israel pointed to a recent IAEA report that acknowledged Iran is enriching uranium to a higher level than other countries without nuclear weapons programs, in violation of its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. But Grossi told Cooper there was no indication of a 'systematic program in Iran to produce a nuclear weapon.' This week, US President Donald Trump said he thought Iran was 'very close' to having a nuclear weapon. Israel would need US help to take out Iran's Fordow nuclear site, buried deep in the Iranian mountains, as only the US military has the massive 'bunker buster' bombs thought to be capable of effectively striking an underground target at such depths. Asked by Cooper whether he is concerned about the possible consequences of a US strike on Fordow, Grossi said 'diplomacy is the way forward.' 'Physical structures can be destroyed, but you cannot destroy knowledge. You cannot destroy technological advancements, advancements being made in a country,' Grossi said. Israel's military said it had killed nine Iranian nuclear scientists. Iran has acknowledged nuclear scientists were killed by Israel in the attack, without saying how many. Grossi this week rebuffed Iranian claims the IAEA has presented a 'misleading narrative' over its nuclear program and said the organization stood ready to 'closely monitor and assess the situation regarding the Israeli attacks on nuclear sites.' Update: Date: 5 min ago Title: Marches of "wrath" and "victory" planned across Iran for Friday Content: Iranians are being urged to take part in nationwide marches of 'wrath' and divine 'victory' on Friday, to demonstrate the nation's anger at Israel's strikes on it, according to Iranian media. People throughout Iran are expected to band together in support of its military forces in an 'outcry of the people's rage' against Israel, according to a poster for the nationwide event shared by the semi-official Tasnim news agency. The marches will take place after Friday prayers, a key weekly religious event for Muslims that often draws large crowds in Iran, especially during periods of heightened tension, and which Iran's Islamic regime frequently uses for political theatre. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei often participates in Friday prayers in Tehran and has often used these appearances to express strong criticisms of the US, Israel and the West. But any public appearance by Khamanei could be risky for the Iranian leader. Israel has refused to rule out the possibility of targeting him, with defense minister Israel Katz saying on Thursday that Khamenei 'cannot continue to exist.' Update: Date: 5 min ago Title: Fire erupts near Microsoft office in Israel's Beer Sheva after Iranian attack Content: Emergency services in Israel are responding to fires in Beer Sheva after Israel's military said it intercepted an Iranian missile. Several fires can be seen burning in a street in the southern city, close to a tech park that houses a Microsoft office, according to video released by Israel's emergency services agency Magen David Adom. Israel Police said it had received reports of the fall of munitions in the country's Southern District in open areas, adding that there was property damage but no reports of casualties. Yesterday, a major hospital in Beer Sheva, the Soroka Medical Center, was damaged in an Iranian attack. Beer Sheva is in the Negev desert, where Israel's Nevatim airbase is located.
United News of India
9 hours ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Iran's atomic chief urges IAEA to end "inaction," condemn Israeli attacks
Tehran, June 20 (UNI) Iran's atomic chief on Thursday called on the United Nations nuclear watchdog to immediately end its "inaction" and condemn Israeli attacks on Iran's "peaceful" nuclear facilities, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency. Head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran Mohammad Eslami made the remarks in a letter addressed to President of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi following an Israeli strike on the Arak heavy water research reactor facility in Khondab County in Markazi province early Thursday. Eslami called on the IAEA to immediately end its "inaction" and condemn Israel's actions, which are in contradiction with international law. The conflict between Israel and Iran entered its seventh day on Thursday. It started after Israel on June 13 launched airstrikes on Iran, hitting the country's military and nuclear sites and killing several top military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran responded by also launching missile and drone attacks against targets in Israel. Earlier on Thursday, a missile struck a building at Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel, injuring at least 71, according to Israel's Health Ministry. Iran's mission to the UN refuted the claim, saying the strike was aimed at the Israeli army's C4I telecommunications corps headquarters and an intelligence facility. The mission said Iran was committed to international humanitarian law and did not target civilians and non-military infrastructure. UNI XINHUA ARN
Hindustan Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
What is Fordow nuclear facility? Iran touts that all nuclear material is ‘in a safe place'
The atmosphere in Iran and Israel worsens each day, and now the world is looking at one of the most clandestine and highly secure nuclear installations of the Iranian state, the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant. Although Israel has struck the facility in recent offensive action against the Iranian nuclear facilities, it is still unclear whether there was any damage to the facility and the extent of danger the facility can still pose. ALSO READ| Israeli PM Netanyahu sparks uproar with his remark on 'personal loss of war': What did he say? Located deep inside a mountain about 30 kilometres northeast of Qom, Fordow was originally a military base run by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. But in 2009, Iran announced publicly that it had taken the facility and changed it to a nuclear facility, only after knowing that Western intelligence agencies already knew about its presence. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have found uranium enriched to nearly weapons-grade levels in Fordow. During an unannounced inspection in early 2023, the IAEA detected uranium particles enriched to 83.7 per cent purity, just short of the 90 per cent needed for a nuclear bomb. 'At the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, we found particles of high enriched uranium with enrichment levels well beyond the enrichment level declared by Iran,' IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in March 2023, per AL Jazeera. Despite Israel's airstrikes on Fordow last week, Grossi clarified on Monday that 'no damage has been seen at the site of the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant or at the Khondab heavy water reactor.' ALSO READ| 'Moral victory for Iran', says scientist as missile hits Israel's main Science institute Recently, the site (Fordow), intended to become a non-nuclear research centre, has been unofficially bestowed again with the task of uranium enrichment, following the U.S withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA). In 2023, the IAEA stated that Iran had now linked centrifuges in a manner that would permit enriched levels to reach 60 per cent purity. Iranian commander Mohsen Rezaei reassured citizens that 'all nuclear material is in a safe place,' per Daily Mail, brushing off concerns about the potential for conflict or sabotage. Many experts believe that even if Israel wanted to fully neutralise Fordow, it likely lacks the firepower to do so from the air. The underground site is designed to withstand heavy bombardment. Only the US has the kind of weapons, or rather the kind of bomb, namely the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which is a 30,000-pound bunker-busting bomb that can possibly bring down the reinforced walls of the place. ALSO READ| Israel Iran conflict: Iran to meet EU leaders for nuclear talks, US still weighing options Former U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier, 'I'm not looking to fight.' 'But if it's a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do. I may do it. I may not do it.'
