Iran to hold nuclear talks with three European powers in Geneva on Friday, Kyodo reports

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters (REUTERS)
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Updated 24 November 2024
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Iran to hold nuclear talks with three European powers in Geneva on Friday, Kyodo reports

  • A senior Iranian official confirmed that the meeting would go ahead next Friday

DUBAI: Iran plans to hold talks about its disputed nuclear program with three European powers on Nov. 29 in Geneva, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday, days after the UN atomic watchdog passed a resolution against Tehran.
Iran reacted to the resolution, which was proposed by Britain, France, Germany and the United States, with what government officials called various measures such as activating numerous new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium.
Kyodo said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government was seeking a solution to the nuclear impasse ahead of the inauguration in January of US President-elect Donald Trump.
A senior Iranian official confirmed that the meeting would go ahead next Friday, adding that “Tehran has always believed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomacy. Iran has never left the talks.”
In 2018, the then-Trump administration exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact with six major powers and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate the pact’s nuclear limits, with moves such as rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output.
Indirect talks between President Joe Biden’s administration and Tehran to try to revive the pact have failed, but Trump said in his election campaign in September that “We have to make a deal, because the consequences are impossible. We have to make a deal.”


Jordanian forces destroy arms and drug trafficking workshops

Updated 57 min 56 sec ago
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Jordanian forces destroy arms and drug trafficking workshops

  • Criminal gangs used the sites along the northern border as bases for launching unlawful operations toward the heart of Jordanian territory

LONDON: The Jordanian military conducted a crackdown on several drug gangs involved in smuggling weapons and narcotics along the northern border with Syria.

The military announced on Wednesday that it targeted several factories and workshops used by gangs involved in arms and drug trafficking, which they used as bases for launching unlawful operations toward the heart of Jordanian territory.

Armed Forces destroyed the sites after receiving intelligence in coordination with regional partners, according to the Petra news agency.

Syrian state media broadcaster Al-Ikhbariya reported on Telegram that the Jordanian army targeted “drug smuggling networks and storage farms in the southern and eastern countryside” of Sweida, in southern Syria.

The Jordanian Army is prepared to confront anyone threatening the security of the homeland and its citizens, addressing any threats with force as needed, The Petra added.