عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Over 1,000 Migrants Reach Spain's Canary Islands in Single Day

Part of a group of migrants (C) rest in the shadow and are tended by Spanish Red Cross workers upon their arrival at the Los Cristianos port in Tenerife island, Canary Islands, southwestern Spain, 21 October 2023. EPA/Alberto Valdes
Part of a group of migrants (C) rest in the shadow and are tended by Spanish Red Cross workers upon their arrival at the Los Cristianos port in Tenerife island, Canary Islands, southwestern Spain, 21 October 2023. EPA/Alberto Valdes
TT
20
TT

Over 1,000 Migrants Reach Spain's Canary Islands in Single Day

Part of a group of migrants (C) rest in the shadow and are tended by Spanish Red Cross workers upon their arrival at the Los Cristianos port in Tenerife island, Canary Islands, southwestern Spain, 21 October 2023. EPA/Alberto Valdes
Part of a group of migrants (C) rest in the shadow and are tended by Spanish Red Cross workers upon their arrival at the Los Cristianos port in Tenerife island, Canary Islands, southwestern Spain, 21 October 2023. EPA/Alberto Valdes

Over 1,000 migrants arrived in Spain's Canary Islands in a single day on Saturday after making the dangerous journey from Africa, including on a boat carrying 320 people that rescuers said was the most packed vessel they had ever seen.
The Red Cross, which was helping to treat the migrants, said a wooden boat that arrived on the island of El Hierro marked a record number of arrivals in a single boat. The previous record was a boat carrying 271 people that arrived in El Hierro on Oct. 3, Reuters reported.
Saturday's arrivals included 783 in El Hierro, 98 in Tenerife and 150 in Gran Canaria, the Red Cross said. The boats' passengers included women and small children.
In Gran Canaria, the coast guard towed a wooden boat carrying migrants, including a toddler, into the port of Arguineguin. Wooden boats from previous arrivals were docked in the port.
The seven islands of the Atlantic archipelago have become the main destination for migrants trying to reach Spain, and this year there has been an increase in attempted crossings from Senegal and other African countries.
Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 15 this year, the islands received 23,537 migrants, an 80% increase from the same period last year according to official data.
At least 1,000 people have died attempting the crossing so far this year, according to the Walking Borders charity.

Most Viewed

 
World

IAEA Pulls Inspectors from Iran as Standoff over Access Drags on

FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
TT
20
TT

IAEA Pulls Inspectors from Iran as Standoff over Access Drags on

FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country's nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in a 12-day war three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency's inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran's facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.

Iran's parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency's inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

"An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict," the IAEA said on X.

According to Reuters, diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors' safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

IAEA WANTS TALKS

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"(Grossi) reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible," the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran's three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran's nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries' declarations. But the bombing of Iran's facilities has now muddied the waters.

"We cannot afford that .... the inspection regime is interrupted," Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.