DUBAI: Iran has sought to produce and source weapons of mass destruction in 2020, misleading the world about the nature of its nuclear program, Washington Free Beacon said on Monday citing a new intelligence report issued by a German government security agency.
Although Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful, it has recently started enriching uranium to levels reaching 60 percent purity. It has also continued making and testing ballistic missiles, the report said.
Claims by Tehran’s leaders that Iran is not interested in building a nuclear bomb were also refuted in the report. The US State Department did not comment on the report, at a time where the Joe Biden administration works to lift sanctions on Iran and re-enter the 2015 nuclear agreement with the country.
Germany, meanwhile, has been one of the main proponents of the nuclear deal and normalizing business ties with Iran, the report said.
Tehran aimed to create business contacts with German companies in the high-tech field, the report said in its section about proliferation.
Iran also has a history of secretly working around US sanctions in order to get the technology it wants to fuel its nuclear research program. The country also made similar operations to “bypass sanctions on its oil trade,” a primary source of revenue for the hardline regime said.
The German report had also shown that Tehran is conducting espionage activities, with Germany being one of multiple European countries where Iranian spies are operating.
Tehran’s intelligence services are also taking part in “the observation of and fight against opposition groups, domestically and abroad,” the report said. This proves that Iran's leadership continues to prioritize the monitoring of regime opponents living outside of the country, it added.
North Korea, Syria, and Pakistan were also engaged in similar Weapon of Mass Destruction efforts, the German report further noted.
The German intelligence agency’s findings reinforce “what has been revealed in scores of German intelligence reports each year after the woefully inadequate Iran nuclear deal was reached in 2015: Iran’s regime continues to seek technology for its goal to build a nuclear weapons device and expand its conventional missile arsenal,” Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Benjamin Weinthal said.
“If Germany is serious about the business of guaranteeing Israel’s security, Middle East stability, and fighting Iran’s state-sponsored eliminatory antisemitism targeting Israel, it would block any concessions to Iran’s regime at the Vienna-based Iran talks,” Weinthal added.
Iran seeks production of weapons of mass destruction: German Intel Agency
https://arab.news/p48rx
Iran seeks production of weapons of mass destruction: German Intel Agency
- Iran has recently started enriching uranium to levels reaching 60 percent purity
- Germany has been one of the main proponents of the nuclear deal and normalizing business ties with Iran
Russian forces begin pulling out of bases in northeast Syria
- Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow
QAMISHLI, Syria: Russian forces have begun pulling out of positions in northeast Syria in an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces after the group lost most of its territory in an offensive by government forces.
Associated Press journalists visited one base next to the Qamishli airport Tuesday and found it guarded by SDF fighters who said the Russians had begun moving their equipment out in recent days.
Inside what had been living quarters for the soldiers was largely empty, with scattered items left behind, including workout equipment, protein powder and some clothing.
Ahmed Ali, an SDF fighter deployed at the facility, said the Russian forces began evacuating their positions around the airport five or six days ago, withdrawing their equipment via a cargo plane.
“We don’t know if its destination was Russia or the Hmeimim air base,” he said, referring to the main Russian base on Syria’s coast. “They still have a presence in Qamishli and have been evacuating bit by bit.”
A UN humanitarian convoy from Damascus reached Qamishli on Tuesday, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
“It delivered food, warm clothes and blankets, among other supplies,” he told UN reporters. “More convoys are planned in the coming days.”
Dujarric said the UN is also continuing to distribute food, bread and cash elsewhere including displacement sites.
There has been no official statement from Russia about the withdrawal of its forces from Qamishli.
Russia has built relations with the new central Syrian government in Damascus since former President Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024 in a rebel offensive led by now-interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa — despite the fact that Moscow was a close ally of Assad.
Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in support of Assad a decade ago turned the tide of Syria’s civil war at the time, keeping Assad in his seat. Russia didn’t try to counter the rebel offensive in late 2024 but gave asylum to Assad after he fled the country.
Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow. Russia has retained a presence at its air and naval bases on the Syrian coast.
Al-Sharaa is expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday and meet with Putin.
Fighting broke out early this month between the SDF and government forces after negotiations over a deal to merge their forces together broke down. A ceasefire is now in place and has been largely holding.
After the expiration of a four-day truce Saturday, the two sides announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
