United Nations: Iran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over “security considerations” in the wake of its massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog said Monday.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi was asked whether he was concerned about the possibility of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility in retaliation for the attack.
“We are always concerned about this possibility. What I can tell you is that our inspectors in Iran were informed by the Iranian government that yesterday (Sunday), all the nuclear facilities that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations,” he said.
The facilities were to reopen on Monday, Grossi said, but inspectors would not return until the following day.
“I decided to not let the inspectors return until we see that the situation is completely calm,” he added, while calling for “extreme restraint.”
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel overnight from Saturday into Sunday in retaliation for an air strike on a consular building in Damascus that killed seven of its Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.
Israel and its allies shot down the vast majority of the weapons, and the attack caused only minor damage, but concerns about a potential Israeli reprisal have nevertheless stoked fears of all-out regional war.
Israel has carried out operations against nuclear sites in the region before.
In 1981, it bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, despite opposition from Washington. And in 2018, it admitted to having launched a top-secret air raid against a reactor in Syria 11 years prior.
Israel is also accused by Tehran of having assassinated two Iranian nuclear physicists in 2010, and of having kidnapped another the previous year.
Also in 2010, a sophisticated cyberattack using the Stuxnet virus, attributed by Tehran to Israel and the United States, led to a series of breakdowns in Iranian centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.
Israel accuses Iran of wanting to acquire an atomic bomb, something Tehran denies.
Iran closed nuclear facilities in wake of Israel attack: IAEA chief
https://arab.news/6vstu
Iran closed nuclear facilities in wake of Israel attack: IAEA chief
- Israel has carried out operations against nuclear sites in the region before
- Israel accuses Iran of wanting to acquire an atomic bomb, something Tehran denies
Syria to chair Arab Group at UN
- The bloc consists of 22 Arab League member states, which aim to coordinate votes and unify Arab discourse
- This is the first time Syria has assumed the presidency of the Arab Group since the change of political power in Damascus in 2024
LONDON: The Syrian Arab Republic took over the presidency of the Arab Group at the UN in New York on Tuesday.
The bloc consists of 22 Arab League states, which aim to coordinate votes and unify Arab discourse on political, humanitarian, and development issues on the UN agenda.
The country’s permanent mission to the UN wrote on X: “Syria is proud to assume the Presidency of the Arab Group at the United Nations in New York.”
Ibrahim Olabi, the permanent representative of Syria to the UN, met with Ambassador Maged Abdelfattah Abdelaziz, the permanent observer of the League of Arab States to the UN. During the meeting, they discussed the priorities for the Arab Group’s work in the upcoming weeks and explored ways to enhance coordination among Arab states.
This is the first time Syria has assumed the presidency of the Arab Group since the change of political power in Damascus in 2024. Last September, President Ahmad Al-Sharaa delivered a speech at the UN General Assembly, marking his country’s return to international diplomacy after decades of isolation. He is the first president to do so in nearly 60 years.
