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Israel's El Al Suspending South Africa Route over World Court Case

(FILES) This photo taken on March 7, 2021 shows an Israeli airline El-Al Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft taking off from Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
(FILES) This photo taken on March 7, 2021 shows an Israeli airline El-Al Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft taking off from Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
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Israel's El Al Suspending South Africa Route over World Court Case

(FILES) This photo taken on March 7, 2021 shows an Israeli airline El-Al Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft taking off from Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)
(FILES) This photo taken on March 7, 2021 shows an Israeli airline El-Al Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft taking off from Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

El Al Israel Airlines said on Friday it was suspending its route to Johannesburg at the end of March, citing a steep drop in demand after South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the World Court.
Israel's flag carrier flies up to twice weekly nonstop to Johannesburg.
"Israelis don't want to fly to South Africa," said an El Al spokesperson. "They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty... We understand it's the situation because it was different before.
"The fact that the Israelis don't want to go to South Africa but do want to go to other places helps us decide that we're pausing that route," she said. The company also cited the current security situation, Reuters reported.
Israel has asked the court to reject the case outright. An Israeli government spokesperson on Thursday said they expected the U.N.'s top court to "throw out these spurious and specious charges".
South Africa argued two weeks ago that Israel's aerial and ground offensive was aimed at bringing about "the destruction of the population" of Gaza.
El Al said once it had stopped flying to Johannesburg it would shift the widebody aircraft it uses on the route to expand current destinations to North America and Bangkok and Tokyo in Asia while examining new routes.

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Iran Is ‘Pressing the Gas Pedal’ on Uranium Enrichment, IAEA Chief Says 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP)
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Iran Is ‘Pressing the Gas Pedal’ on Uranium Enrichment, IAEA Chief Says 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP)

Iran is "pressing the gas pedal" on its enrichment of uranium to near weapons grade, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday, adding that Iran's recently announced acceleration in enrichment was starting to take effect.

Grossi said last month that Iran had informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it would "dramatically" accelerate enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% of weapons grade.

Western powers called the step a serious escalation and said there was no civil justification for enriching to that level and that no other country had done so without producing nuclear weapons. Iran has said its program is entirely peaceful and it has the right to enrich uranium to any level it wants.

"Before it was (producing) more or less seven kilograms (of uranium enriched to up to 60%) per month, now it's above 30 or more than that. So I think this is a clear indication of an acceleration. They are pressing the gas pedal," Grossi told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

According to an International Atomic Energy Agency yardstick, about 42 kg of uranium enriched to that level is enough in principle, if enriched further, for one nuclear bomb. Grossi said Iran currently had about 200 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60%.

Still, he said it would take time to install and bring online the extra centrifuges - machines that enrich uranium - but that the acceleration was starting to happen.

"We are going to start seeing steady increases from now," he said.

Grossi has called for diplomacy between Iran and the administration of new US President Donald Trump, who in his first term, pulled the United States out of a nuclear deal between Iran and major powers that had imposed strict limits on Iran's atomic activities. That deal has since unraveled.

"One can gather from the first statements from President Trump and some others in the new administration that there is a disposition, so to speak, to have a conversation and perhaps move into some form of an agreement," he said.

Separately, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at Davos that Iran must make a first step towards improving relations with countries in the region and the United States by making it clear it does not aim to develop nuclear weapons.