Tehran Rejects Cooperation with IAEA Beyond Scope of Safeguards Agreement

A picture distributed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran of the sixth-generation centrifuges at an exhibition of the nuclear industry last week 
A picture distributed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran of the sixth-generation centrifuges at an exhibition of the nuclear industry last week 
TT

Tehran Rejects Cooperation with IAEA Beyond Scope of Safeguards Agreement

A picture distributed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran of the sixth-generation centrifuges at an exhibition of the nuclear industry last week 
A picture distributed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran of the sixth-generation centrifuges at an exhibition of the nuclear industry last week 

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami said that his country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) falls under the IAEA safeguards.

Eslami dismissed comments that as many as 100 new cameras have been set up at a nuclear power plant in Isfahan.

“The AEOI will act based on the Strategic Action Plan,” he said.

The Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions was approved by the Iranian parliament in December 2020. It required the Iranian administration to restrict the IAEA inspections.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said last week that the country's nuclear authorities should continue working with the UN nuclear watchdog "under the framework of safeguards."

Khamenei called on Iranian authorities not to yield to the IAEA's "excessive and false demands".

"There is nothing wrong with the agreement (with the West), but the infrastructure of our nuclear industry should not be touched," Khamenei said, according to state media.

"This is a good law ... which must be respected and not violated in providing access and information (to the IAEA)," added Khamenei

Having failed to revive the deal in indirect talks that have stalled since September, Iranian and Western officials have met repeatedly in recent weeks to sketch out steps that could curb Iran's fast-advancing nuclear work, free some US and European detainees held in Iran, and unfreeze some Iranian assets abroad.

Both sides are discussing more Iranian cooperation with the IAEA, Reuters quoted a Western official as saying, and could include Iran committing to pause enriching uranium by 60%.

Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri-Kani said in a tweet on Wednesday that he "had a serious and constructive" meeting with European Union foreign policy official Enrique Mora in Doha.

"We exchanged views and discussed a range of issues including negotiations on sanctions lifting,” he added.

For his part, Mora tweeted saying: “Intense talks yesterday and today with Vice Minister Bagheri Kani in Doha on a range of difficult bilateral, regional and international issues, including the way forward on the JCPOA.”

Kani said last week that he had met diplomats from the European Troika in the UAE to discuss "a range of issues and mutual concerns".

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said the bloc was "keeping diplomatic channels open, including through this meeting in Doha, to address all issues of concern with Iran".



China Sanctions US Firms over Taiwan Military Support

A C-130 of the Taiwan Air Force plane flies during a live training session in Pingtung city, Taiwan, 20 December 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A C-130 of the Taiwan Air Force plane flies during a live training session in Pingtung city, Taiwan, 20 December 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
TT

China Sanctions US Firms over Taiwan Military Support

A C-130 of the Taiwan Air Force plane flies during a live training session in Pingtung city, Taiwan, 20 December 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO
A C-130 of the Taiwan Air Force plane flies during a live training session in Pingtung city, Taiwan, 20 December 2024. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

China on Friday slapped sanctions on seven US companies and related senior executives after Washington's approval last week of a $571.3 million military aid package to Taiwan, which Beijing said infringed on its "sovereignty and territory.”

Last Friday, US President Joe Biden authorized the drawdown of up to $571.3 million for defense assistance to the self-ruled island, which China regards as its own territory.

Washington's actions "interfere in China's internal affairs, and undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese foreign ministry said as it announced the sanctions.

The statement also hit out at Washington's 2025 defense budget, which includes a security cooperation initiative with Taiwan, as well as calls for strengthened defense industrial cooperation with Taipei.

Beijing targeted the US defense companies Insitu, Hudson Technologies, Saronic Technologies, Aerkomm and Oceaneering International, as well as Raytheon's Canada and Australia subsidiaries, the ministry said.

The sanctions will freeze the companies and executives' assets in China and ban organizations and individuals in China from trading or collaborating with them, the ministry said.