DUBAI: Iran will soon exceed an enriched uranium limit under its nuclear deal, after remaining signatories to the pact fell short of Tehran’s demands to be shielded from US sanctions, the semi-official Fars news agency cited an “informed source” as saying.
“As the commission meeting in Vienna could not satisfy Iran’s just demands ... Iran is determined to cut it commitments to the deal and the 300 kg enriched uranium limit will be soon breached,” the unnamed source said, according to Fars.
The countries that are still parties to the 2015 nuclear accord - European powers Britain, Germany and France plus Russia and China - held urgent talks with Iranian officials on Friday in Vienna in hopes of persuading Tehran to hold off.
Iran’s envoy to a meeting of the remaining signatories to the agreement said on Friday that European countries had offered too little at last-ditch talks to persuade Tehran to back off from its plans to breach limits imposed by the deal.
The Europeans say breach of the agreement by Iran would escalate confrontation at a time when Tehran and Washington are at risk of a miscalculation that could trigger a war.
Iran to soon exceed enriched uranium limit under nuclear pact
Iran to soon exceed enriched uranium limit under nuclear pact
- The Europeans say breach of the agreement by Iran would escalate confrontation at a time when Tehran and Washington are at risk of a miscalculation that could trigger a war
- The countries that are still parties to the 2015 nuclear accord held urgent talks with Iranian officials on Friday in Vienna in hopes of persuading Tehran to hold off
Turkiye ‘closely’ monitoring Kurdish groups as Iran war rages
- “We are closely following PJAK’s activities in Iran and regional developments,” the Turkish defense ministry said
- “Turkiye supports the territorial integrity of neighboring states, not their fragmentation“
ANKARA: Turkiye’s defense ministry on Thursday said it was “closely” following the actions of Kurdish militant groups over concerns they are being drawn into the war, reportedly by US-led efforts to destabilize Iran.
The conflict began on Saturday when US-Israeli strikes hit Iran, which retaliated with strikes across the region, with Tehran on Wednesday saying it had hit Kurdish militant groups based in Iraq.
The move came as reports suggested Washington was looking to arm Kurdish guerrillas to infiltrate Iran — a move that would likely raise hackles in Turkiye.
“We are closely following PJAK’s activities in Iran and regional developments,” the Turkish defense ministry said of an Iran-based Kurdish group which is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdish militant PKK.
“Activities of groups like the PJAK terrorist organization, which promote ethnic separatism, negatively affect not only Iran’s security but also the overall peace and stability of the region,” the ministry said.
“Turkiye supports the territorial integrity of neighboring states, not their fragmentation.”
On February 22, the PJAK (the Kurdistan Free Life Party) and four other exiled Kurdish groups announced a political coalition to seek the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and ultimately to secure Kurdish self-determination.
Spread across Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and Iran, the Kurds are one of Iran’s most important non-Persian ethnic minority groups and have long supported anti-government protests in the Islamic Republic.
Turkiye has been seeking to end its conflict with the PKK, which formally disbanded last year after four decades of violence that claimed some 50,000 lives.
Although most PKK-linked groups embraced the call to disarm, the PJAK did not, with Ankara concerned any regional unrest could embolden recalcitrant Kurdish separatists.
In late January, following a wave of deadly anti-government protests in Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that “the complete neutralization of PJAK constitutes an urgent necessity for Iran’s security.”
