JEDDAH: The clock began ticking on Tuesday for the restoration of full UN sanctions against Iran for breaching the 2015 deal to curb its nuclear program.
France, Britain and Germany formally triggered the dispute mechanism in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the strongest step the Europeans have taken to enforce the agreement.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018, since when Iran has gradually broken its pledges to scale back nuclear activities, culminating on Jan. 6 when it scrapped all limits on enriching uranium.
“We do not accept Iran’s argument that it is entitled to reduce compliance with the JCPOA,” the three countries said on Tuesday. “We have therefore been left with no choice, given Iran’s actions.”
They formally notified the EU, the guarantor of the agreement, that the dispute mechanism should begin. “At some point we have to show our credibility,” a European diplomat said.
The dispute process begins with a 30-day discussion period. If the complaint about Iran’s behavior remains unresolved, it is referred to the UN Security Council. After a further 30 days, sanctions from all previous UN resolutions will be reimposed unless the Security Council votes otherwise, which is unlikely.
The three European countries acted because they had “finally given in to the reality of US sanctions,” the security analyst Dr. Theodore Karasik told Arab News. “The dispute resolution mechanism leads directly back to UN sanctions, and ensures the end of the JCPOA so that a new process can start when Iran behaves like a normal country.
“The move may prompt Iran to leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty altogether, which would add further evidence of Tehran’s intent,” said Karasik, a senior adviser to Gulf State Analytics in Washington, DC.
Iran “never had the intention to stick to the already flawed nuclear deal to begin with,” said Salman Al-Ansari, founder of the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee, a Washington lobby group.
“The EU should follow the logical US stance by putting maximum pressure and full sanctions on Iran until they get back to the table and behave like a normal nation state.”
Countdown to UN sanctions on Iran over nuclear deal
https://arab.news/9zbfd
Countdown to UN sanctions on Iran over nuclear deal
- France, Britain and Germany formally triggered the dispute mechanism in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
School materials enter Gaza after being blocked for two years, UN agency says
- Thousands of kits, including pencils, exercise books and wooden cubes to play with, have now entered the enclave, UNICEF said
GENEVA: The UN children’s agency said on Tuesday it had for the first time in two-and-a-half years been able to deliver school kits with learning materials into Gaza after they were previously blocked by Israeli authorities.
Thousands of kits, including pencils, exercise books and wooden cubes to play with, have now entered the enclave, UNICEF said.
“We have now, in the last days, got in thousands of recreational kits, hundreds of school-in-a-carton kits. We’re looking at getting 2,500 more school kits in, in the next week, because they’ve been approved,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said.
COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into the Gaza Strip, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Children in Gaza have faced an unprecedented assault on the education system, as well as restrictions on the entry of some aid materials, including school books and pencils, meaning teachers had to make do with limited resources, while children tried to study at night in tents without lights, Elder said. During the conflict some children missed out on education altogether, facing basic challenges like finding water, as well as widespread malnutrition, amid a major humanitarian crisis.
“It’s been a long two years for children and for organizations like UNICEF to try and do that education without those materials. It looks like we’re finally seeing a real change,” Elder stated. UNICEF is scaling up its education to support half of children of school age — around 336,000 — with learning support. Teaching will mainly happen in tents, Elder said, due to widespread devastation of school buildings in the enclave during the war which was triggered by Hamas’ assault on Israel on October 2023.
At least 97 percent of schools sustained some level of damage, according to the most recent satellite assessment by the UN in July.
Israel has previously accused Hamas and other militant groups of systematically embedding in civilian areas and structures, including schools, and using civilians as human shields. The bulk of the learning spaces supported by UNICEF will be in central and southern areas of the enclave, as it remains difficult to operate in the north, parts of which were badly destroyed in the final months of the conflict, Elder said.
The Hamas-led attack in October 2023 killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s assault has killed 71,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health authorities say. More than 20,000 children were reported killed, including 110 since the October 10 ceasefire last year, UNICEF said, citing official data.
