Iran Asks Watchdog Not to Publish 'Unnecessary' Nuke Details

FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant.  (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
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Iran Asks Watchdog Not to Publish 'Unnecessary' Nuke Details

FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant.  (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)
FILE: This Monday, Oct. 26, 2020, satellite image from Planet Labs Inc. that has been annotated by experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows construction at Iran's Natanz uranium-enrichment facility that experts believe may be a new, underground centrifuge assembly plant. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)

Iran urged the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to avoid publishing “unnecessary” details on Tehran’s nuclear program, state TV reported Sunday, a day after Germany, France and Britain said Tehran has “no credible civilian use” for its development of uranium metal.

The report quoted a statement from Iran’s nuclear department that asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to avoid publishing details on Iran’s nuclear program that may cause confusion.

“It is expected the international atomic energy agency avoid providing unnecessary details and prevent paving ground for misunderstanding” in the international community, the statement said. It did not elaborate.

On Saturday, Germany, France and Britain pressed Iran to back off its plan to develop uranium metal, calling it “the latest planned violation” of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

The goal of the deal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, something Iran insists it does not want to do, The Associated Press reported.

“Iran has no credible civilian use for uranium metal,” they said in a joint statement.

“The production of uranium metal has potentially grave military implications.”

On Thursday, the IAEA said Iran had informed it that it had begun installing equipment for the production of uranium metal. It said Tehran maintains its plans to conduct research and development on uranium metal production are part of its “declared aim to design an improved type of fuel.”

Iran reacted to the European statement Sunday saying Iran informed the UN nuclear watchdog nearly two decades ago of its plans for the “peaceful and conventional” production of uranium metal. It also said it provided updated information to the agency two years ago about its plans to produce silicide advanced fuel.

The statement said uranium metal is an “intermediate product” in the manufacture of uranium silicide, a fuel used in nuclear reactors that is safer and has more power capability than uranium oxide-based fuel, which Iran currently produces.

The three European nations alongside the US, Russia and China signed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that prohibited research and production of uranium metal.

President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from Iran’s nuclear deal, in which Tehran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. After the US then ramped up sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the deal’s limits on its nuclear development.

President-elect Joe Biden, who was vice president when the deal was signed during the Obama administration, has said he hopes to return the US to the deal.



German-Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Released from Iranian Prison

09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
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German-Iranian Women’s Rights Activist Released from Iranian Prison

09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)
09 January 2024, Iran, Tehran: German-Iranian Nahid Taghavi sits on a couch after her temporary release from the notorious Ewin prison in Tehran. (dpa)

Nahid Taghavi, an Iranian-German women's rights activist, has been released from prison and is back in Germany after more than four years incarceration in Iran, Amnesty International said on Monday.

The release of Taghavi followed concerns about the 70-year-old's health and calls from rights groups on the German government to pressure Tehran on the case.

Taghavi was detained in October 2020 during a visit to Tehran and later sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison for her alleged involvement in an illegal group and for propaganda against the state. Amnesty called the charges fabricated

"My mum is finally home. Words are not enough to describe our joy. At the same time, we mourn the four years we were robbed of and the horror she experienced in Evin prison," her daughter Mariam Claren said in a statement.

The rights group said Taghavi was tortured during her time in prison and held in solitary confinement.

The activist landed safely in Germany on Sunday, Amnesty said, calling for many more releases to follow in Iran.

Iran's judiciary was not immediately available for comment.

"A great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a post on X.

Germany has clashed with Iran in the past over its jailing of dual citizens and criticized its human rights record. In October, Berlin recalled its ambassador to Iran over the execution of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd.

Last week Iran freed Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, three weeks after she was detained in Tehran during a reporting trip.