TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday dismissed US demands for the inspection of Iranian military sites by the UN nuclear watchdog, shrugging off a request by America’s ambassador to the UN as only a “dream.”
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday dismissed the idea of inspections at its military sites, reportedly floated by the United States, saying they were not required under a nuclear deal with world powers.
“Our commitments to the world are clear... our relations with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) are defined by rules, not by the US,” Rouhani said in a televised address.
He said Iran was still committed to the nuclear agreement, but “we do not accept bullying.
“I see it as unlikely that the IAEA will accept the request for inspections, but even if they do, we will not,” he said.
Iran’s government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht told reporters that the demand by Ambassador Nikki Haley wasn’t worth any attention. Iran will not accept any inspection of its sites and “especially our military sites.”
In remarks broadcast by state TV, he said the sites and all information about them are “classified.”
Haley last week met IAEA chief Yukiya Amano and discussed accessing Iranian military sites in order to ensure Iran’s compliance with the 2015 JCPOA deal that Iran forged with world powers.
The landmark accord saw international sanctions eased in exchange for stringent controls on Iran’s nuclear program and closer IAEA inspections.
The inspections are designed to prevent nuclear material being moved from nuclear centers to other areas, including military bases.
The IAEA has repeatedly reported that Iran is in compliance with the deal.
Rouhani said Iran had the support of Europe and other signatories, and added that US President Donald Trump would struggle to muster support for tearing it up.
“The US is in the most difficult situation in its history for creating unity against us and I think it’s not possible for it to do so now,” Rouhani said.
“Twenty-eight EU countries, which are America’s allies, clearly say we are committed to the JCPOA,” he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed his commitment to the deal and said there was “no alternative.”
Ali Akbar Velayati, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s foreign policy adviser, also dismissed the reported demand for inspections as “sloganeering by the new US administration for domestic consumption.”
“The Americans should take the dream of visiting our military sites, using the pretext of the JCPOA or any other pretext, to their graves,” he said.
Despite the pushback, the deal remains under threat.
The US has strongly criticized recent Iranian missile tests and imposed new, non-nuclear sanctions — prompting Rouhani to hint in mid-August that Iran could easily walk away from the deal “within hours” if forced to do so.
Haley responded that new US sanctions against Iran relate to Iran’s support for “worldwide terrorism” and other destabilising actions in the region, and said Tehran could not “use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage.”
Trump is due to notify Congress in October about whether Iran is adhering to the deal.
Iran rejects US demand for UN inspection of its military sites
Iran rejects US demand for UN inspection of its military sites
Algeria inaugurates strategic railway to giant Sahara mine
- The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030
- The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium
ALGEIRS: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday inaugurated a nearly 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) desert railway to transport iron ore from a giant mine, a project he called one of the biggest in the country’s history.
The line will bring iron ore from the Gara Djebilet deposit in the south to the city of Bechar located 950 kilometers north, to be taken to a steel production plant near Oran further north.
The project is financed by the Algerian state and partly built by a Chinese consortium.
During the inauguration, Tebboune described it as “one of the largest strategic projects in the history of independent Algeria.”
This project aims to increase Algeria’s iron ore extraction capacity, as the country aspires to become one of Africa’s leading steel producers.
The iron ore deposit is also seen as a key driver of Algeria’s economic diversification as it seeks to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons, according to experts.
President Tebboune attended an inauguration ceremony in Bechar, welcoming the first passenger train from Tindouf in southern Algeria and sending toward the north a first charge of iron ore, according to footage broadcast on national television.
The mine is expected to produce 4 million tons per year during the initial phase, with production projected to triple to 12 million tons per year by 2030, according to estimates by the state-owned Feraal Group, which manages the site.
It is then expected to reach 50 million tons per year in the long term, it said.
The start of operations at the mine will allow Algeria to drastically reduce its iron ore imports and save $1.2 billion per year, according to Algerian media.
