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France: Iran Uranium Enrichment 'Very Concerning'

A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility 250 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran, March 30, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi
A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility 250 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran, March 30, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi
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France: Iran Uranium Enrichment 'Very Concerning'

A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility 250 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran, March 30, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi
A view of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility 250 km south of the Iranian capital Tehran, March 30, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi

France on Thursday called developments in Iran's nuclear program "very concerning" after the UN nuclear watchdog reported finding uranium particles enriched just under the 90 percent needed for an atomic bomb.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report described inspectors discovering on Jan. 21 that two cascades of IR-6 centrifuges at Iran’s Fordo facility had been configured in a way “substantially different” to what had been previously declared. The IAEA took samples the following day, which showed particles with up to 83.7% purity, the report said.

"This report states that the direction Iran is taking is very concerning," French foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre told reporters, adding this development was "unprecedented and extremely serious".

Last week, Iran claimed it had not made any attempt to enrich uranium beyond 60 percent.

The head of the IAEA is to meet with Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on Saturday to try to "relaunch the dialogue" on the country's atomic work, a diplomatic source said Wednesday.

The IAEA tweeted that Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi would hold a news conference upon his return from Iran to Vienna on Saturday.

Iran has been enriching uranium well over the limits laid down in a landmark 2015 deal with world powers, which started to unravel when the United States withdrew from it in 2018.

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Trump Administration to Cancel Student Visas of Pro-Palestinian Protesters

The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)
The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)
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Trump Administration to Cancel Student Visas of Pro-Palestinian Protesters

The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)
The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday to combat antisemitism and pledge to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests, a White House official said.

A fact sheet on the order promises "immediate action" by the Justice Department to prosecute "terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews" and marshal all federal resources to combat what it called "the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets" since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

"To all the resident aliens who joined in the protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you," Trump said in the fact sheet.

"I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before."

The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled US college campuses, with civil rights groups documenting rising antisemitic, anti-Arab and Islamophobic incidents.

The order will require agency and department leaders to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days on all criminal and civil authorities that could be used to fight antisemitism, and would demand "the removal of resident aliens who violate our laws."

The fact sheet said protesters engaged in pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, blocked Jewish students from attending classes and assaulted worshippers at synagogues, as well as vandalizing US monuments and statues.

Many pro-Palestinian protesters denied supporting Hamas or engaging in antisemitic acts, and said they were demonstrating against Israel's military assault on Gaza, where health authorities say more than 47,000 people have been killed.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a large Muslim advocacy group, accused the Trump administration of an assault on "free speech and Palestinian humanity under the guise of combating antisemitism," and described Wednesday's order as "dishonest, overbroad and unenforceable."

During his 2024 election campaign, Trump promised to deport those he called "pro-Hamas" students in the United States on visas.

On his first day in office, he signed an executive order that rights groups say lays the groundwork for the reinstatement of a ban on travelers from predominantly Muslim or Arab countries, and offers wider authorities to use ideological exclusion to deny visa requests and remove individuals already in the country.