WASHINGTON: The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said a team of its inspectors are “back in Iran,” the first to enter since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities this year.
Iran suspended cooperation with the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency following a 12-day war with Israel in June, with Tehran pointing to the IAEA’s failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.
“Now the first team of IAEA inspectors is back in Iran, and we are about to restart,” director general Rafael Grossi told Fox News’ “The Story” in an interview aired on Tuesday.
“When it comes to Iran, as you know, there are many facilities. Some were attacked, some were not,” Grossi said.
“So we are discussing what kind of... practical modalities can be implemented in order to facilitate the restart of our work there.”
The announcement came as Iran held talks with Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Tuesday, with Tehran seeking to avert a sanctions snapback which the European powers have threatened to impose under a moribund 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who attended the talks, said it was “high time” for the European trio “to make the right choice and give diplomacy time and space.”
Britain, France and Germany — parties to the 2015 deal — have threatened to trigger the accord’s “snapback mechanism” by the end of August.
Tuesday’s meeting was the second round of talks with European diplomats since the end of the June war, which was triggered by an unprecedented Israeli surprise attack.
The conflict derailed Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the United States.
It also cast a chill on Iran’s ties with the IAEA, with Tehran blaming the UN agency in part for the attacks on its nuclear facilities.
Israel says it launched the attacks to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon — an ambition Tehran has repeatedly denied.
The 2015 nuclear deal was torpedoed in 2018 when Donald Trump, during his first term as president, unilaterally withdrew the United States and slapped sanctions on Iran.
UN nuclear watchdog chief says inspectors ‘back in Iran’
https://arab.news/c5u6j
UN nuclear watchdog chief says inspectors ‘back in Iran’
- The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said a team of its inspectors are “back in Iran,” the first to enter since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities this year
Morocco’s energy ministry puts gas pipeline project on hold
- The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates
RABAT: Morocco’s energy ministry said on Monday it has paused a tender launched last month for a gas pipeline project, without giving details on the reasons for the suspension.
The tender sought bids to build a pipeline linking a future gas terminal at the Nador West Med port on the Mediterranean to an existing pipeline that allows Morocco to import LNG through Spanish terminals and supply two power plants.
It also covered a section that would connect the existing pipeline to industrial zones on the Atlantic in Mohammedia and Kenitra.
“Due to new parameters and assumptions related to this project... the ministry of energy transition and sustainable development is postponing the receipt of applications and the opening of bids received as of today,” the ministry said in a statement.
Morocco is looking to expand its use of natural gas to diversify away from coal as it also accelerates its renewable energy plan, which aims for renewables to account for 52 percent of installed capacity by 2030, up from 45 percent now.
The country’s natural gas demand is expected to rise to 8 billion cubic meters in 2027 from around 1 bcm currently, according to ministry estimates.
