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The Irish Sun
16-07-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Iran threatens to ramp up enrichment of nuke-grade uranium AGAIN – just 24 days after Trump bombed ‘Mount Doom' facility
IRAN has again threatened to ramp up enrichment of its near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile just days after being bombed by the US. It comes after Israel said some of Iran's nuclear fuel 10 A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex after the US bombings on June 21 Credit: Reuters 10 This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close view of the Isfahan nuclear technology in Iran after US strikes Credit: AP 10 This picture shows a general view of the Isfahan nuclear power plant in 2005 Credit: AFP 10 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. 10 10 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, 10 Construction activity post-bombing at Fordow as of June 27; annotations by The Sun Credit: Maxar via Reuters 10 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. 10 President Donald Trump speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington after the strikes 10 President Donald Trump and his national security team meet in the Situation Room during the bombings Credit: White House
Scottish Sun
16-07-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Iran threatens to ramp up enrichment of nuke-grade uranium AGAIN – just 24 days after Trump bombed ‘Mount Doom' facility
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) IRAN has again threatened to ramp up enrichment of its near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile just days after being bombed by the US. It comes after Israel said some of Iran's nuclear fuel survived US bombings during the 12-Day War last month. 10 A satellite view shows an overview of Fordow underground complex after the US bombings on June 21 Credit: Reuters 10 This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close view of the Isfahan nuclear technology in Iran after US strikes Credit: AP 10 This picture shows a general view of the Isfahan nuclear power plant in 2005 Credit: AFP 10 Tehran admitted that Operation Midnight Hammer - which saw American B-2 Spirit bombers drop more than a dozen GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker buster bombs - did cause "excessive and serious" damage. 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 theoretically be sufficient to produce more than nine nuclear bombs. 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. 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 start enriching uranium again within just months. 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 New York Times some of the uranium stockpile survived the US and Israeli bombings last month - and may be accessible to Iranian nuclear engineers. 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. 10 10 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, said in his assessment that Iran may be filling the craters and conducting engineering damage assessments and radiological sampling. 10 Construction activity post-bombing at Fordow as of June 27; annotations by The Sun Credit: Maxar via Reuters 10 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 Operation Rising Lion - a sophisticated campaign of bombing which targeted Iran's military nuclear sites. The Israelis also brilliantly orchestrated Operation Red Wedding - 30 top Iranian military chiefs killed in near-simultaneous blitz as Israel sought to root out the country's military strength entirely. Iran retaliated by launching daily salvos of ballistic missiles across Israel, but failed to hit any strategic targets. Less than a fortnight later, Trump joined the Israeli bombing campaign against Iran. The US military's flagship B-2 Spirit stealth bombers dropped more than a dozen 30,000lb GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). 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. 10 President Donald Trump speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington after the strikes 10 President Donald Trump and his national security team meet in the Situation Room during the bombings Credit: White House
The National
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Iran rules out nuclear talks if US insists it abandons enrichment
Iran said on Monday that it will not resume nuclear talks with the US if negotiations are conditional on halting its uranium enrichment activities, state news agency Irnareported. Tehran and Washington held several rounds of negotiations aimed at reviving a nuclear deal, but those efforts were derailed after Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iran in June, triggering 12 days of war. Following the ceasefire, both sides signalled interest in returning to the negotiating table. However, Tehran has remained firm that it will not relinquish its right to the peaceful use of nuclear power. 'If the negotiations must be conditioned on stopping enrichment, such negotiations will not take place,' Ali Velayati, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the news agency. The remarks came after foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran had not set a date for a meeting between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff. 'For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter,' said Mr Baqaei on Monday. Mr Araghchi and Mr Witkoff failed to conclude a deal after five rounds of talks that began in April and were the highest-level contact between the two countries since Washington abandoned the nuclear pact, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in 2018. The talks, which were mediated by Oman, took place in Muscat and Rome. Tensions escalated further after the US joined its ally Israel in limited military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, deepening mistrust and stalling diplomacy. 'We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round, the Zionist regime, in co-ordination with the United States, committed military aggression against Iran,' said Mr Baqaei. In a statement on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Iran 'supports diplomacy and constructive engagement'. 'We continue to believe that the window for diplomacy remains open, and we will seriously pursue this peaceful path.' Tehran warns against sanctions Israel and western governments have long accused Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran strongly denies the claim, insisting its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. While it is the only non-nuclear weapons power to enrich uranium to 60 per cent purity, close to the level needed for a warhead, the UN's atomic energy watchdog has said it had no indication Iran was working to weaponise its stockpiles. Mr Baqaei said on Monday that Iran would react to any reimposition of UN sanctions over its nuclear programme, without elaborating on what action Tehran might take. European diplomatic sources had previously told The National that France, Britain and Germany, collectively known as the E3, would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called 'snapback mechanism' if no nuclear deal was reached. Under the terms of a UN resolution ratifying the 2015 nuclear pact, the three European powers have the ability to trigger the mechanism before October 18. This would allow them to reimpose sanctions if they determine that Iran is not complying with the agreement. 'The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from the Islamic Republic of Iran,' Mr Baghaei told a press conference. 'The European parties, who are constantly trying to use this possibility as a tool, have themselves committed gross and fundamental violations of their obligations under the JCPOA,' he added. 'They have failed to fulfil the duties they had undertaken under the JCPOA, so they have no legal or moral standing to resort to this mechanism.'
Korea Herald
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Iran says no nuclear talks if US insists it stop enrichment
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) -- Iran said on Monday there would be no new nuclear talks with the US if they were conditioned on Tehran abandoning its uranium enrichment activities. Washington and Tehran had been engaged in several rounds of negotiations seeking to strike a deal on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, but Israel derailed the talks when it launched a wave of surprise strikes on its regional nemesis, touching off 12 days of war. Since the end of the hostilities, both Iran and the US have signalled willingness to return to the table, though Tehran has said it will not renounce its right to the peaceful use of nuclear power. "If the negotiations must be conditioned on stopping enrichment, such negotiations will not take place," Ali Velayati, an adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. The remarks came after Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran had not set a date for any meeting with the US. "For now, no specific date, time or location has been determined regarding this matter," Baqaei said of plans for a meeting between Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff. Araghchi and Witkoff had previously failed to conclude a deal after five rounds of talks that began in April and were the highest-level contact between the two countries since Washington abandoned a landmark nuclear agreement in 2018. The Omani-mediated negotiations were halted as Israel launched its surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military facilities on June 13, with the US later joining its ally and carrying out limited strikes. "We have been serious in diplomacy and the negotiation process, we entered with good faith, but as everyone witnessed, before the sixth round the Zionist regime, in coordination with the United States, committed military aggression against Iran," Baqaei said. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement on Monday that Iran "supports diplomacy and constructive engagement." "We continue to believe that the window for diplomacy remains open, and we will seriously pursue this peaceful path." Israel and Western nations accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has consistently denied. While it is the only non-nuclear weapons power to enrich uranium to 60-percent purity -- close to the level needed for a warhead -- the UN's atomic energy watchdog has said it had no indication Iran was working to weaponise its stockpiles. Israel's offensive, which it said was aimed at thwarting a nuclear threat from the Islamic republic, killed nuclear scientists and top-ranking military officers, but also hit residential areas. The US launched its own set of strikes on June 22, hitting Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Fordo in Qom province south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz. Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli cities, and attacked a US base in Qatar in retaliation for Washington's strikes. The extent of the damage to the Islamic republic's nuclear program remains unknown, and Baqaei said it was "still under investigation." Pezeshkian in his latest statement warned of an "even more crushing retaliation" to any "new aggression against Iranian territory." Baqaei said on Monday that Iran remained in contact with Britain, France and Germany, the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal that the US later withdrew from. The Europeans have threatened to trigger the deal's "snapback" mechanism, which allows the reimposition of UN sanctions in the event of non-compliance. Baqaei said Tehran was "in continuous contact with these three countries," but added that he "cannot provide an exact date" for the next meeting with them. There was "no legal, moral or political basis" for reimposing sanctions, according to Baqaei, as Iran was still committed to the 2015 agreement. He added that such a move would be met with an "appropriate and proportionate" response, following Iranian threats to quit the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty. After the US pulled out of the 2015 deal with Iran during Donald Trump's first term as president, Tehran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement, which restricted its atomic activities in return for sanctions relief. "The Islamic Republic of Iran still considers itself a member of the JCPOA," Baqaei said, referring to the 2015 deal.
LBCI
14-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Iran says no nuclear talks if US insists it abandon enrichment: State media
Iran will not take part in talks with the United States over its nuclear program if Washington insists Tehran abandon uranium enrichment, an adviser to the Islamic Republic's supreme leader said Monday. "If the negotiations must be conditioned on stopping enrichment, such negotiations will not take place," adviser Ali Velayati was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA. AFP
