Iran Says Talks with IAEA's Grossi 'Positive'

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami (not pictured) in Isfahan, Iran, May 7, 2024. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami (not pictured) in Isfahan, Iran, May 7, 2024. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran Says Talks with IAEA's Grossi 'Positive'

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami (not pictured) in Isfahan, Iran, May 7, 2024. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami (not pictured) in Isfahan, Iran, May 7, 2024. Iran's Atomic Energy Organization/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog have been positive and productive, Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said on Tuesday in a joint news conference with the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi in the Iranian city of Isfahan.
Grossi flew to Iran on Monday hoping to bolster oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency of Tehran's atomic activities after various setbacks, but analysts and diplomats say he has limited leverage and must be wary of empty promises.
In 2023, Tehran gave sweeping assurances to the UN nuclear watchdog that it will assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and re-install removed monitoring equipment. But little came of those assurances, IAEA reports to member states show.
"We continue interactions over unresolved issues, including issues regarding two sites," Eslami said in the televised news conference, according to Reuters.
Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the around 90% of weapons grade. If that material were enriched further, it would suffice for two nuclear weapons, according to an official IAEA yardstick.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons but no other state has enriched to that level without producing them.



Thousands of Australians Without Power as Heavy Rain, Damaging Winds Lash Tasmania

The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
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Thousands of Australians Without Power as Heavy Rain, Damaging Winds Lash Tasmania

The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)
The Coomera river is seen cutting a road at Clagiraba Road on the Gold Coast Tuesday, January 2, 2024. (AAP)

Tens of thousands of people in Australia's southern island state of Tasmania were without power on Sunday after a cold front brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.
"Around 30,000 customers are without power across the state this morning," Tasnetworks, a state-owned power company, said on Facebook on Sunday.
The nation's weather forecaster said on its website that a cold front over Tasmania, population around 570,000 people, was moving away, "although bands of showers and thunderstorms continue to pose a risk of damaging wind gusts."
Properties, power lines and infrastructure had been damaged, Tasmania's emergency management minister Felix Ellis said in a televised media conference, adding that "the damage bill is likely to be significant".
Emergency authorities issued warnings for flooding, which they said could leave Tasmanians isolated for several days, as the state prepared for another cold front forecast to hit on Sunday night, Reuters reported.
“There is potential for properties to be inundated, and roads may not be accessible," executive director of Tasmania State Emergency Service, Mick Lowe, said in a statement.
Authorities had received 330 requests for assistance in the last 24 hours, according to the agency.
Tasmania is a one-hour flight or 10-hour ferry crossing from the mainland city of Melbourne, 445 km (275 miles) away. About 40% of the island is wilderness or protected areas.