Bomb Explodes in Afghanistan during a Memorial Ceremony for a Taliban Official

Taliban security personnel standing guard near the scene of a suicide bomb blast close to the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs in Kabul, Afghanistan, 27 March 2023. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
Taliban security personnel standing guard near the scene of a suicide bomb blast close to the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs in Kabul, Afghanistan, 27 March 2023. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
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Bomb Explodes in Afghanistan during a Memorial Ceremony for a Taliban Official

Taliban security personnel standing guard near the scene of a suicide bomb blast close to the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs in Kabul, Afghanistan, 27 March 2023. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
Taliban security personnel standing guard near the scene of a suicide bomb blast close to the Afghan ministry of foreign affairs in Kabul, Afghanistan, 27 March 2023. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL

A bomb exploded Thursday in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province during a memorial ceremony for a deputy governor who was killed in another blast two days earlier, a Taliban official said.

The latest explosion occurred near Nabawi mosque during a funeral for Mawlavi Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Badakhshan. He was killed by a car bomb on Tuesday alongside his driver in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, said The Associated Press.

Moazuddin Ahmadi, the provincial director of information and culture, confirmed the explosion but couldn't provide other detail. He said there are casualties and an investigation is ongoing.

Local sources who spoke on condition of anonymity say the blast happened inside the mosque where Taliban officials and local people attended the memorial ceremony.

The ISIS group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s car bombing that killed deputy governor and his driver. Ten people were also wounded in the blast.

Ahmadi was wounded in the explosion and died shortly after at a local hospital, according to the director of the information and culture in Badakhshan.

In December, a car bombing killed Badakhshan’s provincial police chief as he made his way to work.

The regional affiliate of the ISIS group — known as ISIS in Khorasan Province — said at the time that it had carried out that attack. IS said it had parked an explosive-laden car on the road and detonated it when the police chief was close by.



UN Nuclear Head to Visit Iran for Talks on Country’s Nuclear Program as Next Trump Presidency Looms

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi during a meeting with the Japanese government in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi during a meeting with the Japanese government in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)
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UN Nuclear Head to Visit Iran for Talks on Country’s Nuclear Program as Next Trump Presidency Looms

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi during a meeting with the Japanese government in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi during a meeting with the Japanese government in Tokyo Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP)

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Sunday he will travel to Iran in the coming days to hold talks regarding the country's nuclear program. The visit comes amid wider tensions gripping the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war and uncertainty over how US President-elect Donald Trump will approach Iran after his inauguration in January.

Specifically, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mariano Grossi, will have high level meetings with the Iranian government and will hold technical discussions on all aspects related to the joint statement agreed with Iran in March 2023.

It is intended as a path forward for cooperation between the IAEA and Iran on how to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic’s rapidly advancing atomic program.

The 2023 statement included a pledge by Iran to resolve issues around sites where inspectors have questions about possible undeclared nuclear activity, and to allow the IAEA to "implement further appropriate verification and monitoring activities."

The meetings in Tehran will build on Grossi's discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September, a statement by the IAEA said.

"It is essential that we make substantive progress in the implementation of the joint statement agreed with Iran in March 2023," Grossi said. "My visit to Tehran will be very important in that regard."

Iran is rapidly advancing its atomic program and continues to increase its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, according to recent reports by the IAEA.

Grossi, has warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make "several" nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. He has acknowledged the UN agency cannot guarantee that none of Iran’s centrifuges may have been peeled away for clandestine enrichment.

Iran’s 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers had put limits on its nuclear program — which the West fears could be used for making nuclear weapons although Tehran insists is only for peaceful purposes — while lifting punitive economic sanctions imposed on Iran.

But the deal collapsed after the Trump administration in 2018 pulled the United States out of the agreement, leading Iran to abandon all limits the deal had put on its program and enrich uranium to up to 60% purity.

That is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. By IAEA’s definition, around 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possible.

As Trump is to take office again in a few weeks, Iranians are divided on what his next presidency will bring. Some foresee an all-out war between Tehran and Washington, particularly as other conflicts rage in the region. Others hold out hope that America’s 47th president might engage in unexpected diplomacy as he did with North Korea.