Latest news with #nuclearprogramme
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
France threatens sanctions on Iran, and Lebanon receives response on Hezbollah
France is threatening Iran with UN sanctions if a deal is not reached on its nuclear programme. Lebanese officials have received a response to their proposal to US special envoy Thomas Barrack over the disarmament of Hezbollah. An Ultra-Orthodox political party quit the Israeli government. On today's episode of Trending Middle East: France threatens Iran with UN sanctions by end of August Lebanon receives US response over Hezbollah disarmament as 12 killed by Israeli attacks on Bekaa Valley Blow for Benjamin Netanyahu as ultra-Orthodox party quits coalition This episode features Sunniva Rose, Europe Correspondent; Jamie Prentis, Beirut Correspondent; and Thomas Helm, Jerusalem Correspondent.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Europe gives Iran deadline to contain nuclear programme or see sanctions reinstated
The EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Iran from 29 August if Tehran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme, the bloc has announced. Speaking at a meeting of his EU counterparts, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: 'France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.' Europeans have been largely elbowed aside from the Iranian nuclear issue by Donald Trump, who ordered the bombing of Iran's nuclear sites last month, and this intervention can be seen as an attempt to reassert Europe's influence. The end of August deadline starts a process that could lead to an armoury of sanctions being reimposed by 15 October, giving European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal – the UK, France and Germany – a continuing lever in negotiations with Iran. The European powers want to see the return of the UN nuclear inspectorate to Iran, in part to prevent Iran trying to reconfigure its nuclear programme after the damage inflicted by the US strikes in June. The way in which the 2015 nuclear deal was negotiated does not allow the other signatories, China or Russia, to veto the sanctions snapback, but the European states can defer the imposition of snapback beyond October to allow time for further consultation. The US, after leaving the nuclear deal in 2018, also cannot veto the UK or French move. The sanctions snapback would be triggered under chapter seven of the UN charter, making the reinstatement of six UN resolutions mandatory, including one that requires Iran to suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment and reprocessing, including at the research and development level. Another reimposed resolution would require all UN member states to prevent the transfer of any items, materials or technologies that could serve these activities or Iran's missile programme. Iranian sanctions experts claim the reinstated resolutions would not automatically halt all Iranian oil exports, cut off Iran's access to international financial systems, or cut off general trade communications. But all countries and international financial institutions would have to refrain from providing financial assistance, new commitments or preferential loans to the Iranian government, except for humanitarian and development purposes. Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said recently that the activation of snapback 'will mean the end of Europe's role in the Iranian nuclear issue and may be the darkest point in the history of Iran's relations with the three European countries, a point that may never be repaired.' He said: 'It would mark the end of Europe's role as a mediator between Iran and the US.' He told diplomats at the weekend 'One of the big mistakes of the Europeans is that they think that the 'snapback' tool in their hands gives them the power to act on the Iranian nuclear issue, while this is a completely wrong perception. If these countries move towards snapback, they will make the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue even more complicated and difficult.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Witness History The Iran nuclear deal
On 14 July 2015, Iran agreed to temporarily limit its nuclear programme. The deal was signed in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it was agreed between Iran and a group of world powers known as the P5+1 – the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany, together with the EU. The accord came after years of tension over Iran's alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insisted that its nuclear programme was entirely peaceful, but much of the international community did not believe that. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme and facilitate international inspections, in return for economic sanctions relief. Baroness Catherine Ashton, who was the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, tells Ben Henderson how the plan was achieved. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina's Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous 'tear down this wall' speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler's List; and Jacques Derrida, France's 'rock star' philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world's oldest languages. (Photo: Baroness Catherine Ashton and Javad Mohammad Zarif, Iranian Foreign Minister, during nuclear negotiations in 2014. Credit: Dieter Nagl/AFP via Getty Images)
The National
3 days ago
- Business
- The National
Iran seeks sanctions-busting alliance at meeting with China and Russia
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has proposed setting up an international organisation to study ways to counteract sanctions after meeting Russian and Chinese ministers at a Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit on Tuesday. Iran's economy is struggling under the weight of western sanctions imposed over Tehran's nuclear programme, which has been a source of friction for decades. Iran relies heavily on economic links with Beijing and Moscow, and is part of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members also include China, Russia, India and Pakistan i. Tianjin, in northern China, is hosting the organisation's 25th foreign ministers meeting. Mr Araghchi said in a post on Telegram that the SCO should establish a 'Centre for Studies and Counteraction to Unilateral Sanctions' to develop strategies to counter 'illegal economic sanctions' and protect supply chains, banking systems and the trade exchanges of its member states. He also sought support for Iran following its 12-day aerial war with Israel last month. Israel and the US launched air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities which they said were part of a nuclear programme geared towards weaponisation. Tehran denies having any such plans. Mr Araghchi said the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation should also 'establish a permanent mechanism to monitor, document and co-ordinate responses to military aggression, acts of sabotage, state terrorism and violations of national sovereignty'. 'The SCO is gradually opening up its place in the global arena, meaning it is gradually going beyond the regional arena, and it has many different issues on its agenda, including in the economic, political and security fields,' he added. He said he would be holding bilateral meetings with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the event. Iranian state news agency Irna said Mr Araghchi also met Chinese President Xi Jinping and would hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Mr Lavrov confirmed the meeting with Mr Araghchi had taken place and said they had discussed how to reach a peaceful solution to the Israeli conflict. Since the reimposition of American sanctions on Iran during Donald Trump's first term as US president, Tehran has deepened ties with Moscow through a 20-year strategic pact, as well as with Beijing, which buys as much as 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports.
News24
4 days ago
- Politics
- News24
Russia slams report Putin urged Iran to accept zero nuclear enrichment as ‘political defamation'
Russia's foreign affairs ministry on Sunday described reports claiming that President Vladimir Putin had encouraged his Iranian ally to accept a 'zero enrichment' agreement on its nuclear programme as 'defamation'. US news outlet Axios reported on Saturday, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that Putin had 'encouraged' Iran to accept a deal with the US that would prevent the Islamic republic from enriching uranium. The article 'appears to be a new political defamation campaign aimed at exacerbating tensions around Iran's nuclear programme', the Russian ministry of foreign affairs said on Sunday. 'Invariably and repeatedly, we have emphasised the necessity of resolving the crisis concerning Iran's nuclear programme exclusively through political and diplomatic means, and expressed our willingness to help find mutually acceptable solutions,' the statement read. Tehran is suspected by Western countries and Israel of seeking to develop an atomic bomb, which it denies, defending its 'non-negotiable' right to develop a civilian nuclear programme. Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran's clerical leadership and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the US joined Israel's bombing campaign in June. Publicly, Moscow has defended Tehran's right to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes but in recent months, Putin has also drawn closer to US President Donald Trump. On 13 June, Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, triggering a 12-day war. The conflict halted negotiations initiated in April between Tehran and Washington to frame Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against Iran. On 22 June, the US bombed the underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, south of Tehran, and nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz. The exact extent of the damage is not known. Iran said its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency 'will take on a new form', expressing a desire for a diplomatic solution to resolve concerns over its nuclear programme. Iran's 12-day war with Israel last month rattled its already shaky relationship with the UN nuclear watchdog. Satellite image © 2025 Maxar Technologies Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Iran's cooperation with the IAEA 'has not stopped, but will take on a new form', after the Islamic republic formally ended cooperation with the UN watchdog in early July. Iran has blamed the IAEA in part for the June attacks on its nuclear facilities, which Israel says it launched to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon - an ambition Tehran has repeatedly denied. Araghchi said requests to monitor nuclear sites 'will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis... taking into account safety and security issues', and be managed by Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
