Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, is considering holding a high-level political discussion in Tehran within the next “couple of weeks” as concerns grow about Iran’s nuclear programme, its director general has said.
Iran, which is currently in the middle of a stand-off with Israel – another nuclear nation – is “very close” to possessing enough enriched uranium to produce several nuclear warheads, Rafael Grossi told The National on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress on Wednesday.
“But that does not mean they have them now. One needs to be careful,” Mr Grossi said.
Last week, Israel fired kamikaze drones at an arms factory in Isfahan, a key site for Iran’s nuclear programme, in response to Tehran's drone and missile attack.
Mr Grossi said at the time that Iran informed him that “all the nuclear complexes that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations”.
Iran has declared 21 sites to the agency and the organisation has also inspected suspected sites where uranium particles have been found – including particles of uranium enriched over 80 per cent – close to the level generally required for a nuclear weapon.
"People all over the world are asking themselves why they [Iran] are doing this. What is the intent? Hence, our insistence with our Iranian counterparts that they exercise the transparency that is required, so as to avoid doubts or uncertainties that could lead precisely to conflictual situations and perhaps the use of force," Mr Grossi said.
"This is why we are constantly engaging with them and at the moment, we are considering the possibility of returning to Tehran within the next couple of weeks to try to have a high-level political discussion and putting this whole thing back on track," he added.
Inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities over the years have been intermittent, despite the US, the EU and the UN insisting on access, mirroring contentious talks on returning to a 2015 deal that former US president Donald Trump scrapped.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under Barack Obama, Mr Trump's predecessor, briefly allowed UN inspectors access to sites, highly regulating uranium enrichment for civilian purposes, in exchange for a significant easing of sanctions.
However, since its collapse and the restoration of tight sanctions on Iran, relations between the IAEA and Tehran have frayed. Iran also accused the UN organisation of working with Israel to sabotage its nuclear complexes.
"We have been looking at so many different crises and trying to play a constructive role in several of them," Mr Rossi said on Wednesday.
"Now is a new chapter in the sense that we have the Gaza crisis compounded with the latest exchanges between Israel and Iran, both members of the IAEA with different characteristics and different situations," he added.
"I have been urging for utmost restraint for cool heads to prevail, and for co-operation with the IAEA at all times."
Nuclear push
Meanwhile, outside of Iran, development of a civil nuclear power industry is progressing in the Middle East, Mr Grossi said.
Saudi Arabia is preparing bids for a number of nuclear power plants that it is planning to build.
“This has not happened yet. They have commissioned a low power research reactor from Argentina which they have not received yet. We see a lot of activity of a preparatory nature,” he said.
Despite being a large and important country in various aspects, the kingdom is relatively "small" in nuclear terms, with limited inspections.
"We are inviting them to start the process of adapting their norms and their practices to a situation where from the moment they start hosting nuclear material, they are going to be subject to inspections like any other country in the world," he added.
The UAE, the first in the Arab region to open a nuclear power plant, plans to meet 25 per cent of its electricity requirements from nuclear energy once its Barakah plant becomes fully operational this year.
It would have been "unthinkable" a few years ago for nuclear reactors to be operating in the Emirates, Mr Grossi said, adding that he was confident about Saudi Arabia going ahead with its nuclear energy programme.
"There's no doubt about it, they will need to decide the pace and the intensity of the effort that is there. That is their decision," he said.
The IAEA chief also said that other countries in the Middle East were exploring the use of nuclear energy, particularly with small modular reactors for desalination and other activities.
"We certainly see Gulf countries moving into nuclear and in a wider sense in the Arab world ... I think it's a completely different scenario than the one we used to have before," Mr Grossi said.
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
