Nuclear inspectors have left Iran: UN watchdog
UN nuclear watchdog inspectors left Iran on Friday, according to the agency, which called for the resumption of its 'indispensable monitoring' after the Islamic republic officially suspended its cooperation.
The suspension came after last month's 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, which saw unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and escalated tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Tribune
2 hours ago
- Daily Tribune
UN Condemns Russia's Series of Drone Attacks on Ukraine
AFP | United Nations UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned yesterday Russia's biggest drone and missile attack yet in the three-year war in Ukraine. 'The Secretary-General strongly condemns the latest series of large-scale drone and missile attacks by the Russian Federation,' Guterres said in a statement referring to the assault Friday, also calling for a full, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire. Hours-long Russian bombardments sent Ukrainians scurrying for shelters across the country. AFP journalists in Kyiv heard drones buzzing over the capital and explosions ringing out throughout the night as Ukrainian air defence systems fended off the attack. 'The Secretary-General is alarmed by this dangerous escalation and the growing number of civilian casualties. Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law and must stop immediately,' said the statement issued by UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. Very Unhappy This came as US President Donald Trump said Friday he was 'very unhappy' about his telephone call with Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine, saying the Russian leader just wanted to 'keep killing people.' 'It's a very tough situation. I told you I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people — it's no good,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Trump also hinted that he may finally be ready to toughen sanctions against Russia, having held off for the past six months while he tried to persuade Putin to end the war. 'We talk about sanctions a lot,' Trump said. 'He understands that it may be coming.'
Gulf Insider
3 hours ago
- Gulf Insider
UN Nuclear Inspectors Depart Tehran As Iran Vows To Keep Enriching
A group of inspectors from the United Nations' nuclear watchdog has finally and formally departed Iran after the country decided to halt its cooperation with the agency, following last month's surprise bombing raids by Israel and the United States. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed in statement shared on X on Friday that its personnel are returning to the agency's headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Al Jazeera's Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, clarified that it's as yet unclear just how many IAEA inspectors left the country in this 'final' wave of departures. 'The language used doesn't clarify whether all or only some of the staff departed, but it appears that a number of them are still in Iran,' he said. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has urged Iran to resume monitoring and verification efforts as soon as possible, saying it is of 'crucial importance' that direct dialogue with Tehran continues. 'The inspectors have been housed in Tehran unable to visit Iran's nuclear sites since Israel attacked the country on June 13,' The Wall Street Journal details. 'They were housed at a hotel in the capital but may have later moved to a U.N. location, according to one of the people.' All of this comes after the Trump White House has threatened the potential for more military action should Iran resume enrichment of uranium, which it has promised to do undeterred. According to more from WSJ: Their departure makes the prospect of any significant international access to Iran's nuclear sites extremely unlikely, allowing it to carry out nuclear work unchecked. Iran's activities are, however, being watched closely by Western and Israeli intelligence agencies, and the IAEA has access to satellite imagery of its sites. It also raises the prospect of a standoff over Iran's participation in the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which bans it from nuclear weapons and requires regular inspections of its atomic program. For decades, Iran has been subject to rigorous inspections of its core nuclear sites. Inspectors would visit its enrichment sites and check its stockpile of enriched uranium every couple of days, ensuring that Iran wasn't diverting fissile material for a nuclear weapon. An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict. — IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) July 4, 2025 Iran has meanwhile said that while it doesn't plan to retaliate further against the United States, it will carry on peaceful nuclear energy activities as a matter of national sovereignty. 'As long as there is no act of aggression being perpetrated by the United States against us, we will not respond again,' Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told NBC News on Thursday. 'Our policy has not changed on enrichment,' Takht-Ravanchi crucially added. 'Iran has every right to do enrichment within its territory. The only thing that we have to observe is not to go for militarization.'
Gulf Insider
4 hours ago
- Gulf Insider
Weakened By War And Syrian Regime Change, Hezbollah Considers Major Demilitarization
Prompted by military losses and shifting regional geopolitics, the Lebanese political and militant group Hezbollah is considering a major strategic shift that would see the group undertake a major disarmament, Reuters has reported, citing three sources familiar with the group's deliberations. In solidarity with Gaza, Hezbollah began attacking Israel on the day after the Oct 7 2023 Hamas invasion of Israel, but suffered mightily for doing so. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hammered Lebanon with airstrikes and then an invasion. In September 2024, Israel unleashed a devious mass attack on Hezbollah members, detonating thousands of pagers that Israeli intelligence had loaded with the explosive PETN. Nearly 3,000 people were wounded and at least a dozen killed, including two children. That same month, an Israeli airstrike killed the group's leader for 32 years, Hassan Nasrallah. Pursuant to the November ceasefire that ended its recent war with Israel, Hezbollah has turned over security responsibilities south of the Litani River to the Lebanese Armed Forces. Alongside that shift, the group has also handed over weapons depots in that part of the country, Reuters reports. Now the group's leadership is considering a handover of its formidable missile and drone arsenal — which pose the greatest threat to Israel — provided Israel withdraws its remaining troops from southern Lebanon. Hezbollah would retain lighter weapons, including antitank missiles. Israel has continued to strike targets in southern Lebanon. Late June brought the biggest Israeli attack on Lebanon since the ceasefire agreement, with the IDF claiming it had struck a 'significant underground project' used by Hezbollah. Thursday brought this bystander-endangering strike, which the IDF said was aimed at an arms smuggler associated with Iran's Quds Force: Hezbollah's position has also been weakened by the December fall of Syria's Assad regime, as a years-long US-led regime-change effort finally culminated in the secular, Iran-friendly Bashar al-Assad being replaced by the former leader of Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian offshoot of al Qaeda that Hezbollah had fought against; Hezbollah also helped turn the tide against ISIS. The turnover of Syrian control severed the overland supply route connecting Hezbollah to its principal sponsor, Iran. In February, the Lebanese government banned commercial flights between Beirut and Tehran, in deference to Israeli accusations that Iran used the flights to ship cash to Hezbollah. Last month brought a telling illustration of Hezbollah's weakened position. After years of anticipation that the group would unleash its missile arsenal in the event Israel launched a major attack on Iran, Hezbollah stood on the sidelines during last month's 12-day war, choosing to confine its support of Iran to official statements condemning Israel's aggression, with a side of saber-rattling. In 2018, Hezbollah was estimated to have a rocket and missile arsenal comprising more than 130,000 projectiles, making it the most potent non-state military force on Earth. Internal Lebanese politics are also playing a role in Hezbollah's reconsideration of the extent to which it remains a military force in addition to a political one: Lebanon's government also wants Hezbollah to surrender the rest of its weapons as it works to establish a state monopoly on arms. Failure to do so could stir tensions with the group's Lebanese rivals, which accuse Hezbollah of leveraging its military might to impose its will in state affairs and repeatedly dragging Lebanon into conflicts. — Reuters If it comes to pass, Hezbollah's demilitarization would represent a huge shift in the Levant's geopolitical picture. With the group having served as both a defender of Lebanon and an instigator of fighting with Israel that brought destruction upon Lebanon, time will tell if the development is a net positive for the country.
