Free Republic

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said Tuesday that his country will never give up its right “to have peaceful nuclear energy” and urged the United States “to demonstrate in a verifiable fashion” that it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal. Addressing the annual high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, Raisi said the American withdrawal from the deal trampled on U.S. commitments and was “an inappropriate response” to Iran’s fulfillment of its commitments. […] Iran has long denied ever seeking nuclear weapons and continues to insist that its program is entirely for peaceful purposes – points Raisi reiterated Tuesday...

United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors have found no evidence that Russia has planted mines at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on July 5, with reference to the agency's spokesperson. "Inspectors from the IAEA have reported that they’ve seen no evidence of anti-personnel mines installed in the plant’s grounds that could endanger reactor safety," the report said. The IAEA spokesman stated that inspectors at the facility continue to monitor the situation. Earlier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned that the Russian forces had placed objects resembling explosive devices on...

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) experts have not found explosives during their recent inspections of parts of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. However, the on-site experts haven’t yet received access to the rooftops of reactor units three and four, as well as parts of the turbine halls and the cooling system, according to the IAEA’s July 5 press release. Director General Rafael Grossi emphasized the importance of IAEA experts being able to inspect all parts of the nuclear power plant. “With military tension and activities increasing in the region where this major nuclear power plant is located, our...

VIENNA, March 15 (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear watchdog inspectors have found that roughly 2.5 tons of natural uranium have gone missing from a Libyan site that is not under government control, the watchdog told member states in a statement on Wednesday seen by Reuters. The finding is the result of an inspection originally planned for last year that "had to be postponed because of the security situation in the region" and was finally carried out on Tuesday, according to the confidential statement by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi. IAEA inspectors "found that 10 drums containing approximately 2.5 tons...

Despite continued accusations from Ukraine that Russia is planning to “blow up” the Zaporizhia NPP (ZNPP), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says its experts at the site “have so far found no visible indications of mines or other explosives”. The IAEA said its experts were able to inspect parts of the plant’s cooling system, including some sections of the perimeter of the large cooling pond and the isolation gate of the discharge channel of the nearby Zaporizhia Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP). It noted that both this channel and the cooling pond “hold reserves of water that remain available for...

International inspectors this week found Iran has uranium enriched to 84% purity, just 6% below that needed to produce a nuclear weapon, Bloomberg News reported Sunday. The International Atomic Energy Agency is preparing its quarterly report on Iran's nuclear program, and two monitors found the near-nuclear weapon capability — the highest found to date.

In France strike plans forming for Thursday in opposition to "pension reform" planned by President Emmanuel Macron... In Ukraine tonight a US delegation has arrived led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman... Meanwhile the International Atomic Energy Agency has established a permanent presence at the "South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant"... US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to travel to China next month... Protests in Peru continue opposition to the ouster of Leftist President Pedro Castillo... Monday night in Germany means protest walks... Israeli Politics: Massive Opposition Protests And Calls For "Compromise Talks" On Judicial Reform... US politics and...

Iran has begun producing uranium enriched up to 60% in its underground Fordow nuclear facility, the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday, bringing the country closer to weapons grade material. “Iran had started producing high enriched uranium – UF6 enriched up to 60% - using the existing two cascades of IR-6 centrifuge....

The Islamic Republic could be faced with global snapback sanctions which would apply even to Russia and China. Iran is trying to maintain an uncompromising stance in every area, but is up against the wall more than it has been in prior years both regarding the IAEA nuclear standoff and in confronting domestic protests. Normally, when the Islamic Republic tries to govern its foreign and internal problems using an iron hand, those it is up against retreat or back down. What is unique now is that Tehran has pulled out the stops against both the IAEA and domestic protesters, and...

Russia plans to supervise operations of the Zaporizh .. (Cannot extract more from the article easily)

The UN’s IAEA has reported that Iran has 55.6 kilograms (122.6 pounds) of 60% enriched uranium. The body says this means Iran is able to produce up to 25 kg (55 lbs) of 90% enriched uranium, enough for a nuclear bomb. The real story could be even more concerning. Consider the hoary phrase, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Similarly, there’s more than one way to make a nuclear bomb. The Union of Concerned Scientists has said that it might be possible to produce a fission-type nuclear weapon with as little as 15kg (33 lbs) of highly...

A renewed nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is “off the table” for the foreseeable future, President Joe Biden told Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid, according to a report in Hebrew media. Biden and other administration officials conveyed the message in a series of recent conversations with the Israeli premier, Zman Yisrael said. If the nuclear deal is not signed, it would be viewed as the crowning achievement of Lapid’s short term as prime minister, as Israel gears up for its fifth round of elections in just over three years this November. According to the report, the latest draft,...

Dubai -- A US Navy warship fired a warning flare to wave off an Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat coming straight at it during a tense encounter in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, officials said Tuesday. The incident on Monday involving the Guard and the Navy comes as tensions remain high over stalled negotiations over Iran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers and as Tehran enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels under decreasing international oversight. Meanwhile, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog said Iran now plans to enrich uranium through a second set of advanced centrifuges at its underground Fordo...

Energoatom, the operator of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, has denied a report from IAEA head Rafael Grossi that there are stocks of 30,000 kg of plutonium and 40,000 kg of enriched uranium at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by Russian forces. At a discussion on nuclear safety at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Grossi voiced concerns about the Zaporizhzhia NPP having such nuclear materials and said this was grounds for a visit to the plant by IAEA officials as soon as possible. Grossi said the IAEA is seeking to visit the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear...

Iran has not been submitting to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, tasked with ensuring United Nations compliance. Iran is just weeks from having enough fissile material to power a nuclear bomb, while simultaneously completing the deployment of 1000 new centrifuges which will allow the regime to enrich its own uranium at an increasing pace, Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Gantz is warning. The news Tuesday came as nuclear talks between Iran and world power, fueled by the United States and European Union have experienced an awkward pause as it appears the two sides are having trouble compromising. “Iran continues...

Russian energy officials have claimed control of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Station, Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant, according to Ukrainian officials. Energy officials from Rosatom, the Russian state atomic energy corporation, arrived in Zaporizhzhya on Friday and said the plant is now part of their company.... ...The International Atomic Energy Agency said that two of the four high voltage offsite power lines at the Zaporizhzhia plant have been damaged...Ukrainian technicians have begun to repair the damaged power lines at the plant, Insider reported on Saturday. The Russian military has also gotten dangerously close to the nuclear plant in Yuzhnoukrainsk...

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Japan on Monday to review a plan to release treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean. Japan hoped the visit would help it push through the plan, which is opposed by the local fishing industry and neighboring countries. The wastewater has been kept in massive tanks since the plant went into meltdown in 2011, and storage space is running out. The IAEA team would evaluate the safety and radiation effects on humans and the sea.

WASHINGTON — The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog says his monitoring program in Iran is no longer “intact” after Tehran refused requests to repair cameras at a key facility, creating the possibility the world will never be “able to reconstruct the picture” of what the Iranians have been doing. In an interview with NBC News, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi says he’s been unable to establish the type of direct communication with Iran’s government that he had before a new hardline government run by President Ebrahim Raisi was elected in June.

Something strange is going on. Why is the EU so keen to shoe-horn America back into the nuclear deal with Iran? Former US president Donald Trump ditched the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal three years ago and imposed heavy sanctions on the mullahs’ regime under his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign. Since then, the Iranians have boasted about how they have flouted the terms of the deal by accelerating their advanced centrifuge program and enriching uranium to almost weapons grade fissile status. The Biden administration is being ultra-cautious. But the EU’s high Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security, the Spanish...

Assessment could likely increase pressure on U.S., other world powers to restore the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Iran is now reportedly within roughly a month of having enough material to fuel a nuclear weapon. The prediction comes from experts studying data in recent reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ atomic inspection group, who say Iran has enriched enough nuclear fuel in recent months to reach near bomb-grade levels and has gained the capability to produce the fuel needed for a single nuclear warhead within roughly a month, according to The New York Times. The newspaper...