UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium 

The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, February 1, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, February 1, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium 

The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, February 1, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, February 1, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday over Iran's expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade, diplomats said on Monday.

The meeting was requested by six of the council's 15 members - France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the US.

They also want the council to discuss Iran's obligation to provide the UN nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency - with "the information necessary to clarify outstanding issues related to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran," diplomats said.

Iran's mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.

Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is "dramatically" accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the IAEA has warned.

Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

Iran reached a deal in 2015 with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Washington quit the agreement in 2018 during Donald Trump's first term as US president, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.

Britain, France and Germany have told the UN Security Council that they are ready - if needed - to trigger a so-called snap back of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

They will lose the ability to take such action on October 18 this year when the 2015 UN resolution on the deal expires. Trump has directed his UN envoy to work with allies to snap back international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.



More Than 300 US Troops Injured Since Start of Iran War

US Navy sailors taxi an F/A-18F Super Hornet on the flight deck aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 17, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
US Navy sailors taxi an F/A-18F Super Hornet on the flight deck aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 17, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
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More Than 300 US Troops Injured Since Start of Iran War

US Navy sailors taxi an F/A-18F Super Hornet on the flight deck aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 17, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)
US Navy sailors taxi an F/A-18F Super Hornet on the flight deck aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 17, 2026. (US Navy/Handout via Reuters)

More than 300 US troops have been wounded since the start of the Iran war on February 28, US Central Command said on Friday.

"Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, approximately 303 US service members have been wounded. The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 273 troops have returned to duty," US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins said.

A US official who asked not to be identified told AFP that 10 troops remain seriously wounded.

A further 13 troops have been killed in the war, according to the latest figures, with seven killed in the Gulf and six in Iraq.

In a separate development Friday, Iran's military said that hotels housing US soldiers in the region would be considered targets.

"When all the Americans (forces) go into a hotel, then from our perspective that hotel becomes American," armed forces spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi told state television on Thursday.

Iran's government has not released an updated casualty toll, but a US-based activist group said on March 23 that some 1,167 Iranian troops had been killed and 658 troops' status is unknown. AFP is not able to independently verify tolls in Iran due to reporting restrictions.

The war began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, killing its supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Since then, the conflict has spread across the Middle East. Iran has fired drone and missiles at Gulf states home to American military bases and other interests.

US President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that talks to end the conflict were "ongoing" and "going very well".


UN Appeals for $80 Mn for Refugees, Hosts in Iran

 A man clears debris from a building damaged after a nearby residential building was hit in a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP)
A man clears debris from a building damaged after a nearby residential building was hit in a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP)
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UN Appeals for $80 Mn for Refugees, Hosts in Iran

 A man clears debris from a building damaged after a nearby residential building was hit in a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP)
A man clears debris from a building damaged after a nearby residential building was hit in a US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP)

The United Nations said Friday it had launched an $80-million appeal to address the urgent humanitarian needs of nearly two million refugees in Iran and their host communities as the Middle East war rages.

Iran hosts the largest number of refugees in the world and has a significant migrant population, including 4.5 million Afghans, according to Tehran, and, according to the UN, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

"With the recent escalation of conflict, refugees, other Afghans and host communities in Iran are struggling with concerns for their safety, job losses, psychological distress and urgent shelter needs," said Babar Baloch, spokesman for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

UNHCR and its humanitarian partners have put together a flash refugee response plan, urgently seeking $80 million to respond to the immediate humanitarian needs from March to May.

"This will cover 1.8 million Afghan refugees and Afghans under other status living in Iran, plus also a million in their hosting communities who have also been affected," Baloch told a press conference.

"In Iran, most Afghan refugees, they live with the urban communities side by side, and everyone is affected," he said, adding that UNHCR was getting "thousands of desperate calls every day" from Afghans seeking support.

The Middle East war erupted on February 28 when Washington and Israel launched strikes on Iran, with Tehran in turn attacking targets in Israel and Gulf nations.

The UN's International Organization for Migration said no atypical outflows of people from Iran had been detected.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the month of war had upended the lives of millions and sent shockwaves far beyond the region at a speed "that threatens to overwhelm the humanitarian response".

"Essential infrastructure critical for the supply of energy, water and health care has been damaged or destroyed. The use of heavy explosive weapons with wide area impact in urban settings has caused suffering and fear," the ICRC said in a statement.

"Without respect for the rules of war, civilians will continue to suffer profound consequences that could outlast the current conflict."


France Hits Back at Lavrov, Says Russia Does Not Defend International Law

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow on Jan 20, 2026. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow on Jan 20, 2026. (AFP)
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France Hits Back at Lavrov, Says Russia Does Not Defend International Law

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow on Jan 20, 2026. (AFP)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow on Jan 20, 2026. (AFP)

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday that Russia does not defend international law either in Ukraine or Iran with its actions, in response to comments made by his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in an interview on French TV.

"Mr. Lavrov was able to calmly spread his propaganda last night on a French television channel... You do not defend international law by launching a war of aggression," Barrot told reporters on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in France, Reuters reported.

Speaking to France Television on Thursday, Lavrov said that by standing with Iran in its war against the US and Israel, Russia's focus was upholding international law.