Governments around Europe called for an extension of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran on Tuesday in the wake of an Israeli intelligence operation that revealed Tehran has retained atomic weapons know how.
Britain and France led a coordinated series of statements that welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu's revelations but threw over his calls to scrap the deal that halt much of the Iranian nuclear programme.
“The Iran nuclear deal is not based on trust about Iran’s intentions; rather it is based on tough verification, including measures that allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency unprecedented access to Iran’s nuclear programme," said Boris Johnson, the British foreign secretary. “The fact that Iran conducted sensitive research in secret until 2003 shows why we need the intrusive inspections allowed by the Iran nuclear deal today. The verification provisions in the Iran nuclear deal would make it harder for Iran to restart any such research. That is another good reason for keeping the deal while building on it in order to take account of the legitimate concerns of the US and our other allies.”
President Donald Trump has said that he persuaded visiting French leader Emmanuel Macron of the merits of scrapping the deal at a White House meeting last week. Mr Trump has set a deadline of May 12 to pull out of the pact.
The French president has promoted a wider overhaul of constraints on Iran based on four pillars, adding Iran’s long-term nuclear work, its regional military activity, and its ballistic missile programme to the 2015 deal.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll said Paris would evaluate how the trove of nuclear files spirited from Tehran would strength its calls for wider action," he said.
"The new information presented by Israel could also confirm the need for longer-term assurances on the Iranian programme, as the president has proposed."
On Monday evening, US secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he believed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he said that Tehran had been hiding secret nuclear weapons files.
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US President Donald Trump has made repeated threats to tear up what he has termed the “worst deal ever”, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran giving up its nuclear ambitions.
But Britain’s Middle East Minister Alistair Burt said the deal, which is also called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was promoting peace.
“The UK has been very clear that JCPOA is still in the interests of the region,” Mr Burt said. “If you take away JCPOA then what do you leave? And that’s what we’re most concerned about.”
He described the situation in the region as "extremely tense” and said the UK would continue to back the deal, which was helping to “de-escalate tension”.
Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy spokeswoman, said she had not seen anything that would suggest Iran had violated the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"What I have seen from the first reports is that Prime Minister Netanyahu has not put into question Iran's compliance with the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) commitments, meaning post-2015 nuclear commitments," she said. "I have not seen from Prime Minister Netanyahu arguments for the moment on non-compliance, meaning violation by Iran of its nuclear commitments under the deal."
Mr Trump has praised Mr Netanyahu’s intervention over the secret nuclear files, saying this proved he had been “100 per cent right” about the agreement.
Mr Trump made a pledge to overturn the deal during his election campaign but has yet to say whether he will pull the US out of the accord when the May 12 deadline for a decision comes.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final (first-leg score):
Juventus (1) v Ajax (1), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Match will be shown on BeIN Sports
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THURSDAY FIXTURES
4.15pm: Italy v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: Egypt v Mexico (Group B)
6.45pm: UAE v Japan (Group A)
8pm: Iran v Russia (Group B)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Bio
Age: 25
Town: Al Diqdaqah – Ras Al Khaimah
Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering
Favourite colour: White
Favourite place in the UAE: Downtown Dubai
Favourite book: A Life in Administration by Ghazi Al Gosaibi.
First owned baking book: How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson.
Movie: Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3
Producer: JAR Films
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangda Singh, Kabir Bedi
Rating: 3 star
The%20specs
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BABYLON
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Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
