VIENNA/DUBAI: UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday he hoped a meeting with Iran later this month to end an impasse over traces of uranium found at undeclared sites would proceed after Iran’s nuclear chief reportedly said it was not “on the agenda.”
“I hope our planned technical meeting with Iran takes place,” Grossi said on Twitter.
He said at a news briefing moments later that he was responding to a comment by Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, reported by state media. Iran has not made such remarks directly to the IAEA, he added.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s years-long investigation into the particles is now stalled, and both sides have agreed to meet in Tehran, with the IAEA saying it “expects to start receiving from Iran technically credible explanations” on how the particles got there.
The issue has been an obstacle to progress in wider talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and has prompted Western powers to push for a fresh resolution targeting Iran at the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors meeting this week, this time ordering Iran to quickly answer the IAEA’s questions.
Eslami’s comments appeared to be in response to the draft resolution prepared by the United States and the so-called E3 — Britain, France and Germany — that the board will vote on this week. A similar resolution was passed by a large margin in June.
“For now, there is no trip of the IAEA to Iran on the agenda. Considering Iran’s goodwill and its logical answers, we can hope for good results if the agency follows a professional and non-political path,” Iranian state media quoted Eslami as saying on Wednesday, the opening day of the IAEA board meeting.
Eslami added that Iran rejects the draft resolution, which says the board “decides it is essential and urgent” for Iran to give the IAEA the answers and cooperation it seeks.
Asked what it would mean if the meeting did not happen, Grossi said: “Well, it would make things even worse than they already are. We are not making progress.”
IAEA chief hopes for crunch meeting in Iran after Tehran says it’s off
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IAEA chief hopes for crunch meeting in Iran after Tehran says it’s off
- “I hope our planned technical meeting with Iran takes place,” Grossi said on Twitter
- The issue has been an obstacle to progress in wider talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal
Syrian government vows to protect Kurds in Aleppo, accuses SDF of planting explosives
- Kurdish-led group targeting neighborhoods with mortars, machine guns, Ministry of Defense says
- Army declares Ashrafieh, Sheikh Maqsoud ‘closed military zone’ after hundreds of civilians evacuated
LONDON: The Syrian government on Wednesday affirmed its commitment to protect all citizens, including Kurds, as armed tensions in Aleppo between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces continued for a fourth day.
The Ministry of Defense accused the SDF of planting explosives on roads and setting booby traps in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, and bombarding them with mortar shells and heavy machine gun fire.
The army designated the two neighborhoods a “closed military zone” after the Syrian Arab Red Crescent evacuated 850 civilians from the area.
The government said in a statement that the SDF played no role in the city’s security and military affairs.
“This confirms that the exclusive responsibility for maintaining security and protecting residents falls upon the Syrian state and its legitimate institutions, in accordance with the constitution and applicable laws,” it said.
Protecting all citizens, including Kurds, was a non-negotiable responsibility upheld without discrimination based on ethnicity or affiliation, it said.
It also rejected any portrayal of its security measures as targeting a specific community, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
“The authorities concerned stress that those displaced from areas of tension are exclusively civilians, all of them Kurdish citizens who left their neighborhoods out of fear of escalation,” the statement said.
“They sought refuge in areas under the control of the state and its official institutions, which clearly demonstrates the trust of Kurdish citizens in the Syrian state and its ability to provide them with protection and security and refutes claims alleging that they face threats or targeted actions.”
The government called for the withdrawal of armed groups from Aleppo.
At least three civilians and a Syrian soldier have been killed and dozens more injured in Aleppo since Tuesday. Authorities have accused the SDF of targeting medical and educational facilities.
The escalation in violence has dealt a blow to an agreement between the two sides that was meant to be implemented by the end of last year.
The Syrian government reached an agreement with the SDF in March that included plans to integrate the group’s military, territory and natural resources, including oil fields, into the new government in Damascus.
