VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog said Thursday it had seen no progress in discussions with Iran over undeclared nuclear material at three sites, but a new visit to Tehran was planned this month.
“The director general (Rafael Grossi) is seriously concerned that there has still been no progress in clarifying and resolving the outstanding safeguards issues,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report seen by AFP.
Senior agency officials will conduct a technical visit to Tehran before the end of November, the report added.
“The agency has reiterated that at this meeting, it expects to start receiving from Iran technically credible explanations on these issues, including access to locations and material, as well as taking the samples as appropriate,” it added.
The director general “reiterates that these issues... need to be resolved for the agency to be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful,” it added.
The UN watchdog has been pressing Iran to give answers on the presence of nuclear material at three undeclared sites, a key sticking point that led to a resolution criticizing Iran being passed at a June meeting of the IAEA’s board of governors.
In a separate report seen by AFP, the IAEA said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium stood at 3,673.7 kilogrammes as of October 22, a decrease of 267.2 kilogrammes from the last quarterly report.
Iran has been enriching uranium well over the limits laid down in a landmark 2015 deal with world powers, which started to unravel when the United States withdrew from it in 2018.
On-off talks between Tehran and world powers have been underway since April last year to revive the deal, which gave Iran much-needed sanctions relief in return for curbs on its atomic program.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken late last month reiterated that he saw little scope to restore the deal, pointing to the clerical leadership’s conditions, as major protests roil the country.
‘No progress’ in discussions with Iran: UN nuclear watchdog
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‘No progress’ in discussions with Iran: UN nuclear watchdog
- Senior agency officials will conduct a technical visit to Tehran before the end of November
- The UN watchdog has been pressing Iran to give answers on the presence of nuclear material at three undeclared sites
Yemen humanitarian crisis to worsen in 2026 amid funding cuts, says UN
- Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations in a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies
GENEVA: The UN warned on Monday that the humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening and that gains made to tackle malnutrition and health would go into reverse due to funding cuts.
“The context is very concerning... We are expecting things to be much worse in 2026,” Julien Harneis, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, told reporters in Geneva.
Some 21 million people will need humanitarian assistance this year, an increase from 19.5 million the previous year, according to the UN The situation has been aggravated by economic collapse and disruption of essential services including health and education, and political uncertainty, Harneis said.
Funding Yemen traditionally received from Western countries was now being cut back, Herneis said, pointing to hopes for more help from Gulf countries.
The US slashed its aid spending this year, and leading Western donors also pared back help as they pivoted to raise defense spending, triggering a funding crunch for the UN
Yemen has been the focus of one of the world’s largest humanitarian operations in a decade of civil war that disrupted food supplies. The country has also been a source of heightened tensions in recent months between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Children are dying and it’s going to get worse,” Harneis said. Food insecurity is projected to worsen across the country, with higher rates of malnutrition anticipated, he stated.
“For 10 years, the UN and humanitarian organizations were able to improve mortality and improve morbidity...this year, that’s not going to be the case.”
He said Yemen’s humanitarian crisis threatened the region with diseases like measles and polio that could cross borders.
In 2025 680 million dollars was afforded to the UN in Yemen, about 28 percent of the intended target, Harneis said.
