Stalled nuclear talks between the EU, Iran and, indirectly, the United States, suffered a double blow on Wednesday when two thirds of the governing body of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — the UN’s nuclear watchdog — expressed “strong concern” about unexplained nuclear activity at four sites in the country.
In a separate development, the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell said on Wednesday that he did not have “anything more to propose", to move negotiations forward, a week after Iran again said it was stepping up uranium enrichment, far beyond limits set under a previous 2015-2018 nuclear deal, which the Donald Trump administration scrapped.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Iran's response to an EU draft of a new deal "a step backward".
The IAEA has repeatedly asked Iran to explain how “man-made” uranium particles were found at four sites by UN inspectors, places that Iran had said were not used for nuclear research.
The IAEA announced in 2016 that unexplained uranium particles had been found at Parchin, a large research complex 30 kilometres south of Tehran, drawing attention to three other sites in subsequent years.
Uranium ore contains about 1 per cent of the metal and has to be refined to a high concentration before being used for civilian or military nuclear purposes, hence the IAEA’s term “man-made”.
Iran has given the IAEA explanations for the presence of the metal, but the UN’s atomic watchdog has rejected them.
The argument is described as the “safeguards issue” because it relates to what the IAEA calls safeguards that should be put in place to ensure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.
The IAEA board decision represents a formal decision by the organisation.
"We call upon Iran to act immediately to fulfil its legal obligations and, without delay, take up the [IAEA] director general's offer of further engagement to clarify and resolve all outstanding safeguards issues," according to the joint statement presented by Germany to the board.
The Vienna-based IAEA says there has been no progress and no engagement by Iran since a previous resolution urging co-operation in June.
Rather than pass a new resolution at this week's board meeting, the four countries behind June's resolution ― the US, Britain, France and Germany ― issued a joint statement reaffirming support for that text and sought to get as many other countries as they could to sign up it.
A list of countries provided by Germany showed that 23 countries on the board supported it. The 12 that did not included Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Senegal and Vietnam.
Amid the safeguards impasse, negotiations had reached a stalemate, Mr Borrell told AFP on Wednesday.
"I am afraid that with the political situation in the US, and so many directions without being conclusive, now we are going to stay in a kind of stalemate," Mr Borrell said.
Mr Borrell has co-ordinated efforts over the past year and a half to try to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Iran has responded by rolling back its adherence to its commitments, greatly increasing its stock of enriched uranium and turning off monitoring cameras operated by the IAEA.
Last month, Mr Borrell put a text in front of all parties that he described at the time as final and which he told AFP on Wednesday was "the best equilibrium point between the positions of everybody".
But Iran is sticking to a demand that the IAEA draw a line under an investigation launched when the agency found traces of nuclear material at three undeclared sites.
Meanwhile, the US political situation has changed as President Joe Biden faces midterm Congressional elections in November that make deals with Iran harder to reach.
Mr Borrell said that, over the past couple of months, "the proposals were converging but unhappily, after the summer, the last proposals are not converging ― they are diverging".
"The last proposals from the Iranians were not helping because we were almost there, then new proposals came and the political environment is not the most propitious. I am sorry to say, but I don't expect any breakthrough in the next days." he said.
The European parties to the nuclear deal, Britain, France and Germany, last week said they had "serious doubts" about Iran's sincerity in wanting the pact restored.
Iran called the joint declaration "unconstructive" and "regrettable".
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The years Ramadan fell in May
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PRO%20MAX
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Freezer tips
- Always make sure food is completely cool before freezing.
- If you’re cooking in large batches, divide into either family-sized or individual portions to freeze.
- Ensure the food is well wrapped in foil or cling film. Even better, store in fully sealable, labelled containers or zip-lock freezer bags.
- The easiest and safest way to defrost items such as the stews and sauces mentioned is to do so in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
WWE TLC results
Asuka won the SmackDown Women's title in a TLC triple threat with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair
Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental title against Seth Rollins
Daniel Bryan retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against AJ Styles
Ronda Rousey retained the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax
Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton in a chairs match
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre
Natalya beat Ruby Riott in a tables match
Braun Strowman beat Baron Corbin in a TLC match
Sheamus and Cesaro retained the SmackDown Tag Titles against The Usos and New Day
R-Truth and Carmella won the Mixed Match Challenge by beating Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Plan to boost public schools
A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.
It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.
Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.
Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.
The five pillars of Islam
Frida%20
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THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now