PARIS: France will host an international meeting on Monday on how to end months of political deadlock in cash-strapped Lebanon, the foreign ministry said.
The Paris gathering is to be attended by representatives from France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said Thursday.
Lebanon is being run by a caretaker government and is also without a president as lawmakers have repeatedly failed to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose mandate expired at the end of October.
The political impasse has hampered efforts to lift the Mediterranean country out of its worst-ever financial crisis.
The currency has lost more than 95 percent of its market value to the dollar since 2019, and more than 80 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, “has expressed her very serious concern on Lebanon’s political deadlock,” Legendre said. Colonna was visiting Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
France and regional partners have been discussing means “to encourage the Lebanese political class to assume its responsibilities and foster a way out of the crisis,” Legendre added.
“This approach will be the subject of a follow-up meeting with the French, US, Saudi, Qatari and Egyptian administrations on Monday to continue coordinating with our partners and find ways to move forward.”
It was not immediately clear if any Lebanese representatives had been invited.
No meeting at ministerial level has been planned for now, Legendre said.
French President Emmanuel Macron in December urged Lebanon to “change its leadership” following months of deadlock that have impeded reforms vital to unlocking billions of dollars in foreign aid.
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France to host international meet on crisis-hit Lebanon
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France to host international meet on crisis-hit Lebanon
- The Paris gathering is to be attended by representatives from France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt
- Lebanon is being run by a caretaker government and is also without a president as lawmakers have repeatedly failed to elect a successor
Much of Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium likely to be in Isfahan, IAEA’s Grossi says
- Isfahan tunnels appear to have survived military strikes
- Some highly enriched uranium was known to be stored there
PARIS: Almost half of Iran’s uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity, a short step from weapons-grade, was stored in a tunnel complex at Isfahan and is probably still there, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Monday.
The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Diplomats have long said Isfahan has been used to store 60 percent uranium, which the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in a report to member states last month, without saying how much was there.
Iran still has highly enriched uranium stocks
The IAEA estimates that when Israel launched its first attacks in June, Iran had 440.9 kg of 60 percent uranium. If enriched further, that would provide the explosive needed for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
“What we believe is that Isfahan had until our last inspection a bit more than 200 kg, maybe a little bit more than that, of 60 percent uranium,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Paris.
He said the stock was “mainly” at Isfahan, and some held elsewhere may have been destroyed.
“The widespread assumption is that the material is still there. So we haven’t seen — and not only us, I think in general all those observing the facility through satellite imagery and other means to see what’s going on there — movement indicating that the material could have been transferred,” Grossi said.
Iran has not informed the IAEA of the status or whereabouts of its highly enriched uranium since the June attacks, nor has it let IAEA inspectors return to its bombed facilities.
Iran’s nuclear program is one reason Israel and the US have given for their current attacks on Iran, arguing that it was getting too close to being able to produce a bomb, despite Trump saying in June that US strikes had obliterated the program. The IAEA has said it has no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons program.
All three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants known to have been operating — two at Natanz and one at Fordow — were destroyed or badly damaged in June.
“There is an amount (of 60 percent uranium) in Natanz also, which we believe is still there,” Grossi said.
The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the US on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Diplomats have long said Isfahan has been used to store 60 percent uranium, which the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in a report to member states last month, without saying how much was there.
Iran still has highly enriched uranium stocks
The IAEA estimates that when Israel launched its first attacks in June, Iran had 440.9 kg of 60 percent uranium. If enriched further, that would provide the explosive needed for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
“What we believe is that Isfahan had until our last inspection a bit more than 200 kg, maybe a little bit more than that, of 60 percent uranium,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Paris.
He said the stock was “mainly” at Isfahan, and some held elsewhere may have been destroyed.
“The widespread assumption is that the material is still there. So we haven’t seen — and not only us, I think in general all those observing the facility through satellite imagery and other means to see what’s going on there — movement indicating that the material could have been transferred,” Grossi said.
Iran has not informed the IAEA of the status or whereabouts of its highly enriched uranium since the June attacks, nor has it let IAEA inspectors return to its bombed facilities.
Iran’s nuclear program is one reason Israel and the US have given for their current attacks on Iran, arguing that it was getting too close to being able to produce a bomb, despite Trump saying in June that US strikes had obliterated the program. The IAEA has said it has no credible indication of a coordinated nuclear weapons program.
All three Iranian uranium-enrichment plants known to have been operating — two at Natanz and one at Fordow — were destroyed or badly damaged in June.
“There is an amount (of 60 percent uranium) in Natanz also, which we believe is still there,” Grossi said.
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