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The UN nuclear watchdog has been unable to inspect nuclear facilities in Iran affected by the war last June according to a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog circulated to member states. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it "cannot provide any information on the current size, composition or whereabouts of the stockpile of enriched uranium in Iran or whether Iran has suspended all enrichment-related activities." The IAEA warned that it was "unable to discharge its safeguards responsibilities" that it has under the Safeguards Agreement of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, adding that it is "indispensable and urgent" for Tehran to implement its obligations under that Treaty. The only nuclear facility inspected in Iran by IAEA inspectors since the last report in February has been the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which was visited on June 1-3. The reactor currently running at Bushehr uses uranium from Russia enriched to 4.5 per cent, a low level needed
Iran's supreme leader vowed Thursday in a defiant tone to protect the Islamic Republic's nuclear and missile capabilities, which US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail through airstrikes and as part of a wider deal to cement the war's shaky ceasefire. In a statement read by a state television anchor, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said the only place Americans belonged in the Persian Gulf is "at the bottom of its waters" and that a "new chapter" was being written in the region's history. Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking over as supreme leader following the killing of his father in the war's opening airstrikes. His remarks come as Iran's economy is reeling and its oil industry is being squeezed by a US Navy blockade halting its tankers from getting out to sea. The world economy is also under pressure as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil is transported. On Thursday, the global benchmark for oil, Brent ...
The United States and Iran clashed over Tehran's nuclear programme as a review of the treaty meant to prevent the spread of atomic weapons got underway Monday at the United Nations, a confrontation almost certain to be repeated during the monthlong meeting. At issue was the election of Iran as one of 34 vice presidents of the conference, where 191 parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty are reviewing its implementation as they have done every five years since it took effect in 1970. Iran was a candidate of what has been dubbed the "nonaligned movement," made up of 121 mainly developing countries. Tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme escalated ahead of the Iran war, with President Donald Trump vowing to ensure the country cannot build an atomic weapon. Iran has enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels, but Tehran insists its programme is only for civilian purposes. The meeting began as Iran offered to reopen the Strait if Hormuz if the US lifted its blockade of Iran