RIYADH: Saudi Arabia called on Iran to fully comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency’s safeguard agreements under the 2015 nuclear deal.
“Only the IAEA safeguards regime can sufficiently verify Iran’s nuclear commitments,” Prince Abdullah bin Khaled bin Sultan, the Kingdom’s representative to the agency, said.
Iran has repeatedly lacked transparency and procrastinated in cooperating with the IAEA and “the world at large lacks the necessary assurances regarding its nuclear program,” he added.
“Iran’s nuclear blackmail must be stopped.”
The IAEA’s Board of Governors has serious concern over Iran’s continued flouting of the agency’s safeguards, Prince Abdullah said.
He said that Tehran continues to transfer nuclear materials to undeclared locations and repeatedly fails to respond to the IAEA’s questions with credible answers.
“Unless its belligerent intentions are firmly contained, Tehran’s recklessness risks proliferation in the region, leading to global instability. The entire safeguards system is at stake. Only firm positions taken by the Board of Governors can save it,” the envoy said.
Also on Wednesday, the UN nuclear watchdog slammed as “unacceptable” incidents involving its inspectors in Iran following a news report that Iranian guards had harassed female agency staff.
“The agency immediately and firmly raised this issue with Iran to explain in very clear and unequivocal terms that such security-related incidents involving agency staff are unacceptable and must not happen again,” the IAEA said.
Saudi Arabia calls on Iran to fully comply with IAEA
https://arab.news/28sev
Saudi Arabia calls on Iran to fully comply with IAEA
- “Iran’s nuclear blackmail must be stopped”: Prince Abdullah bin Khaled bin Sultan
- He said that Tehran continues to transfer nuclear materials to undeclared locations
Hundreds flee to government-held areas in north Syria ahead of possible offensive
- Many of the civilians who fled used side roads to reach government-held areas
- Men, women and children arrived in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes
DEIR HAFER, Syria: Scores of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria on Friday ahead a possible attack by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters east of the city of Aleppo.
Many of the civilians who fled used side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked with barriers at a checkpoint that previously was controlled by the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, Associated Press journalists observed.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. The announcement appeared to signal plans for an offensive against the SDF in the area east of Aleppo.
There were limited exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Men, women and children arrived in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
In other areas, people crossed canals on small boats and crossed a heavily damaged pedestrian bridge to reach the side held by government forces.
The SDF closed the main highway but about 4,000 people were still able to reach government-held areas on other roads, Syrian state TV reported.
A US military convoy arrived in Deir Hafer in the early afternoon but it was not immediately clear whether those personnel will remain. The US has good relations with both sides and has urged calm.
Inside Deir Hafer, many shops were closed and people stayed home.
“When I saw people leaving I came here,” said Umm Talal, who arrived in the government-held area with her husband and children. She added that the road appeared safe and her husband plans to return to their home.
Abu Mohammed said he came from the town of Maskana after hearing the government had opened a safe corridor, “only to be surprised when we arrived at Deir Hafer and found it closed.”
SDF fighters were preventing people from crossing through Syria’s main east-west highway and forcing them to take a side road, he said.
The tensions in the Deir Hafer area come after several days of intense clashes last week in Aleppo, previously Syria’s largest city and commercial center, that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from three neighborhoods north of the city that were then taken over by government forces.
The fighting broke out as negotiations stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached in March to integrate their forces and for the central government to take control of institutions including border crossings and oil fields in the northeast.
The US special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, posted on X Friday that Washington remains in close contact with all parties in Syria, “working around the clock to lower the temperature, prevent escalation, and return to integration talks between the Syrian government and the SDF.”
The SDF for years has been the main US partner in Syria in fighting against the Daesh group, but Turkiye considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkiye.
