Iran Rejects Western ‘Concerns’ over Nuclear Compliance

Iran has dismissed concerns raised by Western nations about its nuclear program. (AFP)
Iran has dismissed concerns raised by Western nations about its nuclear program. (AFP)
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Iran Rejects Western ‘Concerns’ over Nuclear Compliance

Iran has dismissed concerns raised by Western nations about its nuclear program. (AFP)
Iran has dismissed concerns raised by Western nations about its nuclear program. (AFP)

Iran repeated Monday its insistence its nuclear program was peaceful, two days after the US, Britain, France and Germany expressed their “grave” concern on the sidelines of a G20 meeting.

Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters in Tehran that Western positions were “incompatible with reality and will not bring constructive results”.

The Western statement on Saturday, a joint declaration after bilateral meetings by leaders on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Rome, followed their discussions of Iran’s offer to resume discussions on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

The accord between Iran and six world powers to find a long-term solution to the crisis over its nuclear program has been moribund since former US president Donald Trump walked out in May 2018 and imposed sweeping sanctions.

Iran held six rounds of indirect negotiations in Vienna with US President Joe Biden’s administration on returning to the 2015 deal, but talks went on hiatus in June as a new ultraconservative government took office in Tehran.

The Western statement on Saturday expressed their “determination to ensure that Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon”.

It said that Tehran “has accelerated the pace of provocative nuclear steps, such as the production of highly enriched uranium and enriched uranium metal.”

It added that “Iran has no credible civilian need for either measure, but both are important to nuclear weapons programs.”

‘Belligerent logic’
Iran’s Khatibzadeh said that was not correct.

“Contrary to the statement, the production of uranium metal and highly enriched uranium, as already asserted in the past, is carried out for peaceful purposes and for civilian uses, including for medical supply and for use as fuel in the Tehran research reactor,” said the foreign ministry spokesman.

Last week, Iran said it would resume talks with world powers in November on reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the nuclear program, after a five-month gap in the face of mounting warnings that international patience was wearing thin.

“When these talks begin... in the next two or three weeks, Iran will follow them with particular attention because negotiating to negotiate is not part of its politics,” Khatibzadeh said, adding that the Vienna talks would not be held at a ministerial level.

Biden has said he is ready to re-enter the agreement so long as Iran also returns to full compliance by rolling back nuclear activities that it undertook in response to Trump’s sanctions.

But Khatibzadeh, accusing the European parties to the agreement in particular “of inaction in the fulfillment of their obligations”, said Iran wanted to see Washington take action.

“The criterion for us is the action of the other party,” he said.

“Contrary to their statements, the US administration continues to pursue a policy of maximum pressure which leads to new sanctions or the reimposition of sanctions previously lifted.”

On Friday, the US Treasury hit Iran’s drone program with sanctions, saying that lethal unmanned aerial vehicles from the Revolutionary Guard Corps had been used to attack US forces and international shipping in the Gulf region.

Tehran said it was not impressed by US actions, urging Washington to move away from the “extremist and belligerent logic of the previous administration” of Trump.

“The United States knows better than anyone that its only option is to abide by the rule of law, and respect the rights of nations,” Khatibzadeh said.

“Iran has confidence in its military and security capabilities,” he added.



Hollywood Stars Help Biden Raise $28 Million during Fundraiser

US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Hollywood Stars Help Biden Raise $28 Million during Fundraiser

US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former US President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, June 15, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Some of Hollywood's brightest stars headlined a glitzy fundraiser for President Joe Biden on Saturday night, helping raise what his reelection campaign said was $28 million and hoping to energize would-be supporters ahead of a November election that they argued repeatedly was among the most important in the nation's history.
George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage at the 7,100-seat Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, The Associated Press reported. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed Biden and former President Barack Obama, who both stressed the need to defeat former President Donald Trump in a race that's expected to be exceedingly close.
During more than half an hour of discussion, Kimmel asked if the country was suffering from amnesia about the presumptive Republican nominee, to which Biden responded, “all we gotta do is remember what it was like" when Trump was in the White House.
Luminaries from the entertainment world have increasingly lined up to help Biden’s campaign, and just how important the event was to his reelection bid could be seen in the president flying through the night across nine time zones, from the G7 summit in southern Italy to Southern California, to attend.
He also missed a summit in Switzerland about ways to end Russia's war in Ukraine, instead dispatching Vice President Kamala Harris who made her own whirlwind trip of her own to represent the United States there — a stark reminder of the delicate balance between geopolitics and his bid to win a second term.
Further laying bare the political implications were police in riot gear outside the theater Saturday night, ready for protests from pro-Palestinian activists angry about his administration’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
The event featured singing by Jack Black and Sheryl Lee Ralph, and actors Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman introduced Kimmel at the start of the interview with Biden and Obama. The comedian deadpanned, “I was told I was getting introduced by Batman, not Bateman.”
But he quickly pivoted to far more serious topics, saying that “so much is at stake in this election” and listing off women’s rights, health care and noting that “even the ballot is on the ballot” in a reference to the Biden administration's calls to expand voting rights.
Kimmel asked the president what he was most proud of accomplishing, and Biden said he thought the administration’s approach to the economy “is working.”
“We have the strongest economy in the world today,” Biden said, adding “we try to give ordinary people an even chance.”
Trump spent Saturday campaigning in Detroit and criticized Biden for weakening the economy and stoking inflation. The president was fundraising "with out-of-touch elitist Hollywood celebrities,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
But Biden told the crowd in California that “we passed every major piece of legislation we attempted to get done." And Obama expressed admiration for sweeping legislation on health care, public works, the environment, technology manufacturing, gun safety and other major initiatives that the administration of his former vice president has overseen.
“What we’re seeing now is a byproduct of in 2016. There were a whole bunch of folks who, for whatever reason, sat out," said Obama, who, like Biden wore a dark suit with a white shirt with an open collar.
Obama added that "hopefully we have learned our lesson, because these elections matter in very concrete ways.”
When the conversation turned to three Supreme Court justices who Trump nominated and who helped overturn Roe v. Wade — the landmark decision guaranteeing a constitutional right to an abortion — the crowd expressed its displeasure to which Obama responded, “don't hiss, vote.” That was a play on his common refrain prioritizing voting over booing.
Biden said that if he were to win four more years in the White House he may get the chance to nominate two new justices — though even that probably wouldn't drastically overhaul a court that current features a 6-3 conservative majority.
He also suggested that if Trump wins back the White House, “one of the scariest parts" was the Supreme Court and how there has “never been a court that’s so far out of step.”
Biden also referenced reports that an upside-down flag, a symbol associated with Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was displayed outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2021. He worried Saturday that, if Trump is reelected, “He’s going to appoint two more who fly their flags upside down.”
Biden's campaign said it was still counting, but that Saturday night's gathering had taken in at least $28 million — more money than any event for a Democratic candidate in history.
That meant outpacing the president's fundraiser in March at Radio City Music Hall in New York, which featured late-night host Stephen Colbert interviewing Biden, Obama and former President Bill Clinton, which raised $26 million.
Biden held an early lead in the campaign money race against Trump, but the former president has gained ground in recent months, after formally locking up the Republican nomination.
Trump outpaced Biden's New York event in April, raking in $50.5 million at a gathering of major donors at the Florida home of billionaire investor John Paulson. The former president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee announced they had raised a whopping $141 million in May, padded by tens of millions of dollars in contributions that flowed in after Trump's guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial.
That post-conviction bump came after Trump and the Republican Party announced collecting $76 million in April, far exceeding Biden and the Democrats’ $51 million for the month.