VIENNA: UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told his agency’s Board of Governors on Wednesday that negotiations he had held in Tehran this week over Iran’s nuclear program had proved inconclusive.
Grossi returned from Tehran on Tuesday after meeting the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and Iran’s foreign minister as he sought to strike a deal with Iran to reinstall four of his agency’s cameras at a centrifuge-parts workshop that was the victim of apparent sabotage.
But he appeared to return without progress leaving a thorn in the side of relations between Iran and the West days before indirect talks between Tehran and Washington over reviving the battered 2015 Iran nuclear deal resume on Monday.
“Despite my best efforts, these extensive negotiations and deliberations to address Iran’s outstanding safeguards issues, detailed in the two reports, proved inconclusive,” Grossi told the 35-nation Board of Governors at the start of its quarterly meeting, according to the text of the speech sent to reporters.
He was referring to reports recently issued by the agency.
The standoff over the Karaj workshop that makes parts for advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, is one of several issues that have soured relations between Iran and the IAEA and angered Western powers that say Tehran must back down.
The IAEA also wants answers from Iran on the origin of uranium particles found at several apparently old but undeclared sites, and has told its member states that Iran keeps subjecting its inspectors to “excessively invasive searches, which resulted in them feeling intimidated” during security checks.
The United States and its European allies would normally pressure Iran on those issues by trying to pass a resolution against it at the quarterly meetings.
With the wider talks on the 2015 deal due to resume on Monday after a five-month break, however, diplomats say it is unlikely there will be any such attempt for fear of jeopardizing those talks.
UN nuclear watchdog chief says negotiations in Iran prove inconclusive
https://arab.news/6r4c2
UN nuclear watchdog chief says negotiations in Iran prove inconclusive
- Standoff over the Karaj workshop is one of several issues that have soured relations between Iran and the IAEA
Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says
- The defense ministry said the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants to Iraq
- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension
RAQQA, Syria: Hours after the expiration of a four-day truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led fighters Saturday, Syria’s defense ministry announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
The 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.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension.
“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” the group said in a statement.
Over the past three weeks, there have been intense clashes between government forces and the SDF, in which the SDF lost large parts of the area they once controlled.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdish-led force called on the international community to prevent any escalation.
The end of the truce came as government forces have been sending reinforcements to Syria’s northeast.
Syria’s interim government signed an agreement last March with the SDF for it to hand over territory and to eventually merge its fighters with government forces. In early January, a new round of talks failed to make progress over the merger, leading to renewed fighting between the two sides.
A new version of the accord was signed last weekend, and a four-day ceasefire was declared Tuesday. Part of the new deal is that SDF members will have to merge into the army and police forces as individuals.
The SDF said in a statement Saturday that military buildups and logistical movements by government forces have been observed, “clearly indicating an intent to escalate and push the region toward a new confrontation.” The SDF said it will continue to abide by the truce.
On Saturday, state TV said authorities on Saturday released 126 boys under the age of 18 who were held at the Al-Aqtan prison near the northern city of Raqqa that was taken by government forces Friday. The teenagers were taken to the city of Raqqa where they were handed over to their families, the TV station said.
The prison is also home to some of the 9,000 members of the Daesh group who are held in northeastern Syria. Most of them remain held in jails run by the SDF. Government forces have so far taken control of two prisons while the rest are still run by the SDF.
Earlier this week, the US military said that some 7,000 Daesh detainees will be transferred to detention centers in neighboring Iraq.
On Wednesday, the US military said that 150 prisoners have been taken to Iraq.
