Iran threatens to ramp up enrichment of nuke-grade uranium AGAIN – just 24 days after Trump bombed ‘Mount Doom' facility
It comes after Israel said some of Iran's nuclear fuel
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A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex after the US bombings on June 21
Credit: Reuters
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This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close view of the Isfahan nuclear technology in Iran after US strikes
Credit: AP
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This picture shows a general view of the Isfahan nuclear power plant in 2005
Credit: AFP
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Tehran admitted that
But it said the bombings will not deter the regime from enriching uranium, which they claim is for peaceful civilian use.
The uranium in question is enriched to 60 per cent - way above levels for civilian use but slightly below weapons-grade.
That material, if further refined to 90 per cent, would
Read more on iran
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission told Mehr
News
Agency: "We will never give up our legitimate right to enrich uranium.
"Enrichment is a sovereign right that we will continue to pursue based on our national needs.
"Bombing cannot erase this knowledge — it will only come back stronger."
It comes as the UK, France and Germany have agreed to restore tough UN sanctions on
Iran
by the end of August if there has been no concrete progress on a nuclear deal.
Most read in The US Sun
Ali Velayati, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA: "If the negotiations [with the US] must be conditioned on stopping enrichment, such negotiations will not take place."
Boroujerdi added: "We will in no way succumb to the West's demands for zero enrichment."
The
UN's top nuclear watchdog International Atomic
Energy
Agency (IAEA) warned Iran could
.
Doubts remained whether Iran quietly removed 408.6 kgs of uranium from its most sensitive sites before the US
strikes
- potentially hiding nuclear material elsewhere in the country.
Trump rips critics & insists 'bombs went through like butter' at Iran sites
An Israeli official told
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not express concern about the remaining stockpile and said any attempt to recover it would be detected by the Israeli intelligence.
They also said that
Israel
would have enough time to attack Iran's nuclear facilities again if the regime tries to recover it.
But it was not clear immediately if the strikes - which hit Iran's Fordow nuclear enrichment plant, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities - were able to wipe out the entire stockpile of enriched uranium.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi admitted Iran could still have stockpiles of enriched uranium, saying: "We don't know where this material could be.
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The moment a GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) hit the earth in the test footage
"So some could have been destroyed as part of the attack, but some could have been moved. So there has to be at some point a clarification," he said in an interview with CBS.
"We need to be in a position to ascertain, to confirm what is there, and where it is and what happened," Grossi said.
Satellite imagery showed trucks moving out of Fordow in the days leading up to the attack - leading to speculations that Iran moved some of its underground uranium stockpile.
US and Israel, as well as independent experts, agree that all of Iran's working centrifuges at Natanz and Fordo — some 18,000 - were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
DOOM & BOOM
Satellite imagery appeared to show construction work at the Fordow Nuclear Enrichment facility in Qom, near Tehran.
Heavy earthmoving equipment can be seen working near the impact craters caused by US GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs.
Excavators and cranes can also be seen working, while more construction trucks are visible on roads leading to the impact points at the site.
A new access road between the site's northern tunnel entrance and one of the impact craters can be seen after Israel said its air force struck Fordow to "disrupt" access to the site.
David Albright, a US weapons expert,
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Construction activity post-bombing at Fordow as of June 27; annotations by The Sun
Credit: Maxar via Reuters
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A satellite overview shows earthmoving at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility on June 27; annotations by The Sun
Credit: Maxar via Reuters
The 12-Day War began on June 13 when Israel launched
The Israelis also brilliantly orchestrated Operation Red Wedding - 30
Iran retaliated by launching daily salvos of ballistic missiles across Israel, but failed to hit any strategic targets.
Less than a fortnight later, Trump
The
US military
's flagship B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped more than a dozen
The bunker-buster bombs were used to hit Iran's Fordow Nuclear Enrichment Plant.
Iran, which vowed to hit US military bases across the Middle East, sought its revenge by launching missiles at Al-Udeid Air Base - America's biggest military station in the region.
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President Donald Trump speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington after the strikes
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President Donald Trump and his national security team meet in the Situation Room during the bombings
Credit: White House
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The Journal
4 hours ago
- The Journal
'It is a despicable disgrace': Bob Geldof condemns Israeli government over starvation in Gaza
BOB GELDOF HAS strongly condemned the Israeli government amid the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where international aid agencies have warned that the population is facing 'mass starvation'. International anger and condemnation has grown in recent days as images and footage of malnourished Palestinian children continue to emerge. The World Health Organisation has said Gaza is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by Israel's blockade of aid into the territory. In a live interview on RTÉ's Prime Time this evening, Geldof said that the only way for hunger crisis in Gaza to end is for the Israeli people 'to equally rise up in disgust as the rest of the world is'. 'Their government is clearly out of control, and their army, probably, as well,' the musician and Live Aid campaigner told Miriam O'Callaghan on the programme. 'I fear that until they do, there's very little we can do against the alliance between [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and the Trump government.' 'I'm not sure that the world can continue to look at those images for much longer without something necessary happening,' Geldof said, adding that he was not sure whether this would be collective action from the EU. It is a despicable disgrace, and for the Israeli people to allow this in their name is a despicable disgrace. Advertisement Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid. 'Deliberate starvation' But in a joint statement, 111 aid organisations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Save the Children and Oxfam, said that warehouses with tonnes of supplies were sitting untouched just outside the territory, and even inside, as they were blocked from accessing or delivering the goods. Today, MSF said that one in four young children and pregnant women in Gaza are malnourished, with rates of severe malnutrition in children under five having tripled in the last two weeks alone. 'This is not just hunger – it's deliberate starvation, manufactured by the Israeli authorities. The weaponisation of food to exert pressure on a civilian population must not be normalised,' MSF said in a statement. According to the UN, Israeli forces has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May – effectively sidelining the existing UN-led system. Geldof told Prime Time that what is happening is 'unconscionable'. '[The Israeli government] are deliberately killing children by purposely starving them, and when their panicked mothers try and approach whilst they dangle food tauntingly in front of their starving bodies, they shoot them,' he said. He said he found it 'utterly bizarre' and 'bewildering' that he was talking about Israel 'given the horror of their own past' and said the 'shame of this' would be 'yet another historic burden they may have to carry'. 'I've been in Gaza. I've been on the West Bank. I've been in Israel. They are an hour away,' he continued. Related Reads Gaza: Warnings of 'mass starvation' as Taoiseach says 'humanity is shocked' by what's happening 'We have no energy left due to hunger': The last remaining journalists in Gaza are facing starvation Over 20 children die from starvation as UN warns 'last lifelines' are collapsing in Gaza 'They're all eating their dinners right now, and they're turning on Netflix and they're watching their heavily censored news while they prosecute this action, while their government does this purposely. What are we living in?' Geldof said the images of malnourished children reminded him of 1984 'but in completely different circumstances', referencing the famine in Ethiopia that prompted him to organise the Live Aid concert to raise money for relief efforts. H went on to say that it was 'seriously telling' that France has announced it would recognise the State of Palestine, and that he would urge the British government to do the same. He also said that Ireland 'has something to say to this, because of our past'. 'Our diplomats are very clever and very respected. I've seen them at work in the UN. I think we step up now and we speak very loudly and very clearly about what we as a country feel.' Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Gaza? Check out our new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online. Visit Knowledge Bank Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
TP O'Mahony: Pope Leo's words on Gaza have gone unheeded in the Knesset and the White House
With Gaza haunted by the spectre of mass starvation, Pope Leo XIV's call for respect for humanitarian law has gone unheeded in the two places on Earth where it requires compliance if peace in the Middle East is ever to be achieved - the White House in Washington DC and the Knesset in Jerusalem. The phrase 'the globalisation of indifference' has for too long accurately described the inaction of the international community to Israel's genocidal war in Gaza, and its collective punishment of the Palestinian people. When I learned just over a month ago that nine out of 10 members of one family had been killed in Gaza during an Israeli raid, I thought - in my naivety - that if one incident could stir the conscience of the international community this was surely it. Never, it seemed to me, were the lessons of Pope John XXIII's great encyclical Pacem in Terris ('Peace on Earth') more apposite. But in today's troubled world it is the absence of peace - the peace of which John XXIII spoke so eloquently and movingly back in 1963 - that is one of its most worrying features. Gaza is a shocking example, but it is by no means the only example of the world's lawlessness. In 2024 there were 61 'state-based conflicts' in the world, the most since 1946, according to the Peace Research Institute in Oslo. And that was before the Israel-Iran conflict. We may well ask: why are there so many wars? That lawlessness - fostered by President Donald's Trump's disregard for international law, conventions and norms - is tragically evident on a daily basis in Gaza. Each day Palestinians continue to be killed while attempting to collect food for their families. Medicins Sans Frontieres has accurately described the system as 'slaughter masquerading as humanitarian aid'. The Belfast rap trio Kneecap - who have drawn a lot of criticism, especially in the British media - have been unflinching in their support for the Palestinian people. JJ O Dochartaigh, one of the group, said in a pre-Glastonbury interview: Everyone knows what's happening is wrong. You can't even try to deny it now - Israel's government is just acting with impunity and getting away with it. Gaza's health ministry says that over 58,000 people (mostly civilians) have died in Israeli attacks since the war began. And that number grows daily. Studies at Yale and other universities suggest the official tolls are being underestimated. Meanwhile, the two-state solution - backed by Ireland and other countries - is looking more and more remote. The political situation is not helped by the fact that the Trump White House does not see an independent Palestinian state as a goal. Matters are also not helped by the fact that the EU is divided on support for a Palestinian state, or how to respond to the systematic destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza, beyond mere words. Kaja Kallas, the foreign policy chief of the EU - Israel's biggest trading partner - has said that 'all options are on the table'. But so far there is no agreement on a plan of action. Ireland has played its part, at least in terms of recognition, much to the chagrin of the Israelis. On May 22, 2024, it was officially announced by the then Taoiseach Simon Harris that 'Ireland will recognise the State of Palestine, effective 28 May'. Ireland made the announcement on the same day as Spain and Norway. 'Ireland today recognises Palestine as a nation among nations with all the rights and responsibilities that entails,' said the Taoiseach. Ireland has for many decades recognised the State of Israel and its right to exist in pace and security. We had hoped to recognise Palestine as part of a two-state peace deal but instead we recognise Palestine to keep the hope of that two-state solution alive. The formal recognition of the State of Israel was an altogether different story. The new state of Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948, and it immediately sought diplomatic recognition from countries around the world. The United States, under President Truman, was the first to grant recognition. On May 28, 1948, Ireland received a telegram from the Israeli foreign secretary asking that 'Eire may grant official recognition to the state of Israel and its provisional government'. On June 4, the Irish government discussed the telegram, and it was decided that 'no action be taken on the telegram apart from the appropriate acknowledgement'. 'For Ireland the issues of Israeli statehood, protection of the Holy Places, the status of Jerusalem and diplomatic recognition remained unresolved. It could have chosen any tack concerning Israel, including the Arab position that the partition of Palestine was illegitimate . . . Instead, Ireland chose the position of the Holy See as a basis for its policy towards Israel. "Not only did the Holy Places argument win prestige for Ireland from the Holy See, but placing such a condition on recognition meant that Ireland would not be entering into diplomatic relations with Israel in the immediate future,' according to Paula Wylie, lecturer in international relations at the University of North Carolina (she studied at UCC). A charity organization distributed food to Palestinians facing severe difficulties accessing basic necessities due to Israel's ongoing blockade and military operations in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Photo: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images The Holy See's policy was that there would be no recognition of Israel until it guaranteed the internationalisation of Jerusalem and the protection of, and free access to, the Holy Places throughout Palestine. 'Ireland's policy of non-recognition towards Israel was maintained by the Department of External Affairs from 1949 to 1963 as a unilateral foreign policy. To date, historians have accepted the thesis that Ireland refused de jure recognition to protest Israel's lack of regard for the Holy Places in and around Jerusalem,' wrote Ms Wylie. On February 11, 1949, the Irish Government had granted de facto recognition to the state of Israel, an acceptance of the situation on the ground. The New York Times reported Ireland's de jure recognition of Israel in January 1964, just after Pope Paul VI's historic visit to Israel and the Holy Places. Recognising the State of Palestine On June 29, 2025 - 10 years after the Holy See formally recognised the State of Palestine - the new minister of state for foreign affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Varsen Aghabekian, said the 2015 agreement offered a 'vision of hope for the future of the Holy Land'. The historic agreement between the Holy See and Palestine was signed on June 26, 2015, making the Holy See one of the first states in Europe to recognise the statehood of Palestine. The question now is who will follow the example of the Holy See and Ireland? The 'vision of hope' to which the Palestinian foreign minister referred will remain dormant until Israel's ends its collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Trump White House is the key to that. Only Washington can persuade Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon his genocidal war. Meanwhile, the peace for which Pope John XXIII so fervently pleaded and prayed still seems in this troubled world a distant prospect. But without it, at least in the Middle East, the dialogue that could prepare the way for a solution in which two states, Israel and Palestine, can co-exist side-by-side with equal dignity, respect and security, cannot even begin. Read More Israeli official says Gaza ceasefire proposal from Hamas is 'workable'
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: Let's not pretend genocide doesn't exist
'Genocide.' A simple word, really. Why all the confusion? Article II of the United Nations Convention signed by the member states officially describes genocide as 'a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or part'. One of the defining criteria is 'causing serious bodily harm or mental harm to the members of a group'. Genocide. A simple word, really… with a simple definition that describes the simple concept of murdering or hurting members of a group for various specious and contrived reasons (like, maybe, 'self- defence'?). And yet as simple as the concept is, various governments such as Israel, the US, Britain, Myanmar, Russia, China conveniently engage in the game of double speak seeking to cloud the very real acts of killing and destruction of a people. The word clearly defines a criminal act against humanity. That definition was agreed upon in a compromise reached by the UN member states in 1948 signed by Israel, the US, Britain, China, Myanmar, Russia, among many others during the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Perhaps it is thought that by not speaking the word that this crime against humanity will not and doesn't exist. Yes, we can all sleep more easily if only we avoid that horrid word. And humanity can sleep dreams of denial rather than rightfully experiencing nightmares of our complicity as witnessed by the lack of protest and action. Rick Fichter, Ramelton, Co Donegal Fears over Eircode were not realised It's hard to believe, that 10 years ago, Ireland's postcode system was introduced. Gone are the days of searching for a rural house as Eircode has come to our rescue. I remember in 2015 , all the hullabaloo, the giving out and all the nonsense from critics apropos to this avant system. It's my contention that these objectors were spectacularly wrong. I especially remember some politicians giving out about this new system. The idea of rolling out a postal code across the country in 2015 was perceived by many people as being chimeric. Some cynics uttered: Who do we think we are? That was because we were coming out of austerity and these people started questioning how the State could be investing €16m on this system where the €16m would eventually cost €27m. Then we had the likes of the Fire and Emergency Services Association saying that the scheme would cause confusion for first responders. We now know that this was all unnecessary hysteria. Thankfully, the postcode system has been a resounding success. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary Planning and reality: A wide gap An Bórd Pleanála is now An Comisúin Pleanála. One of the first provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024 to be commenced. Unfortunately, the 'change' of title, and indeed the new act when it is fully commenced, will do little to prevent bizarre determinations like that to refuse the demolition of a set of redundant concrete car park ramps in Dublin Airport. In upholding the decision of Fingal County Council, ACP stated that, notwithstanding the fact that the spirals were not a protected structure, they are of technical and architectural merit by virtue of their brutalist design, associated concrete construction and their unique architectural form and shape which reflect a distinctive feature adjacent to the T1 building. They were built in 1972, 53 years ago to serve a facility that no longer exists. And yes, of concrete; a basic commonplace construction material. As acknowledged by ACP, they are not protected structures. But nevertheless, it found a planning rationale to refuse their demolition. I'm not inclined to go overboard with odious hypothetical comparisons but consider this: If the same view was taken of the 'brutalist' form of the Ballymun Towers and Hawkins House, we would be doubtless celebrating the retention of icons of 1960s brutalist architecture. Allied to the absurd flight cap conditioned in 2007 and that an entire Part (5) of the new Planning Act covers Dublin Airport, the gap between planning and land use theory and reality will remain as wide as ever. Larry Dunne, Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford 'Longtermism' is an oxymoron One has to ardently admire and solemnly salute the authentic optimism of Coalition 2030, whose recent wide-spectrum forum conceived the idea of a 'commissioner for future generations' to be appointed in Ireland to act as 'a sustainability tsar'. This would be enacted to ensure 'longtermism' is planted firmly in government decision-making. More power to their collective elbow. Ultra-worthy and all as the idea is, it is bordering on thinking on a grand scale. 'Longtermism' in statutory governance parlance has an innate oxymoronic essence woven through its conceptual wish-list. Of course it's imperative that governance should be securely planning ahead with future climate initiatives, and how. It's a no brainer. But will they go there ? Absolutely and shamefully not. The perennial democratic 'greed-jousting', aka party-political electioneering, will never allow such lofty considerations take root. The recent demise of Green advocacy within parliamentary portals has put paid to any revolutionary shoots of biodiverse radicalism and climate urgency conversion. That said, at least the notion of a 'sustainability tsar' has now been formally mooted, so perhaps the notion of transmogrifying traditionally blinkered self-serving political traditions along the path towards 'longtermism' can begin to take wings. Green wings, that is, not a drop of fossil fuel in sight, but they will need a permanently robust breeze not a blast of hot air. Jim Cosgrove, Lismore, Co Waterford Greyhounds do not deserve this When is a dog not a dog'? When it is a greyhound. Under Irish Law Greyhounds are classified as 'livestock' the same as cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry. They are under the remit of the Department of Agriculture. Last year, the Veterinary Council of Ireland changed its code of practice to prohibit the barbaric procedure of surgical artificial insemination on all dogs apart from greyhounds — existing legislation allows for this. Surgical artificial insemination is worthy of inclusion in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, although even she may have found it a stretch. It necessitates removal of the uterus, injecting it with semen, reinserting it and stitching the animal up. Following this high-risk procedure, the unfortunate animal is likely to be pregnant with between eight and 10 pups, putting a huge strain on the recent wound. Yet one year after the public consultation on the matter we are still awaiting the outcome for greyhounds. Greyhounds are gentle creatures that do not deserve to be treated like this. No animal does. There should be no exceptions to this ban. Neither should taxpayers' money be used to fund this industry. If it is a viable industry as it claims to be, why does it need a handout of €20m a year? Joan Burgess, Annmount, Cork Voice notes take away any doubt Voice notes are the latest popular way to communicate. There are some who find the idea of listening to messages annoying. But, it could actually be a positive movement. With text messages, there can be misunderstandings. Even something as simple as 'okay' can mean different things depending on tonal variations. With voice notes, there is no doubt about the caller's intent. You can hear their mood, happy, sad or angry. There is no need for emojis or acronyms such as 'lol' to glean someone's mood. It is a step towards bringing back the art of small talk and conversation. It also has the added benefit of making those terrible emojis completely obsolete. John Jennings, Knocknacarra, Galway Read More Letters to the Editor: Shane Lowry displayed true dignity and honesty at The Open
