Iran has accelerated its enrichment of uranium to near weapons grade, the UN atomic watchdog said in a report on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The move has increased tension with the West as both sides seek to resume talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers.
Iran is refining uranium to 60 per cent fissile purity from 20 per cent in April, in response to an explosion and power cut at its Natanz site, which damaged production at the main underground enrichment plant.
Iran has blamed the attack on Israel. Weapons grade is about 90 per cent purity.
In May the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran was using one cascade, or cluster, of advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium up to 60 per cent at its above-ground pilot plant at Natanz.
The IAEA told member states on Tuesday that Tehran had added a second cascade, for a total of 317 centrifuges, to enrich uranium to the new level, the IAEA said.
The move is the latest of many by Iran breaching the restrictions imposed in the 2015 nuclear deal, which capped the purity to which Tehran can refine uranium at 3.67 per cent.
The US and its European allies have warned that such moves threaten talks on reviving the deal, which have been suspended.
On Monday, the IAEA said Iran had made progress in its work on enriched uranium metal despite objections by western powers that there was no civilian use for such work.
Uranium metal can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb but Iran says its aims are peaceful and it is developing reactor fuel.
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
RESULT
Arsenal 2
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 45 4'
Eddie Ntkeiah 51'
Portsmouth 0
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
