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Grossi Says Return to Diplomacy is Key to Solve Iranian Nuclear Crisis

IAEA Director General Grossi in Isfahan on May 7, 2024 (EPA)
IAEA Director General Grossi in Isfahan on May 7, 2024 (EPA)
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Grossi Says Return to Diplomacy is Key to Solve Iranian Nuclear Crisis

IAEA Director General Grossi in Isfahan on May 7, 2024 (EPA)
IAEA Director General Grossi in Isfahan on May 7, 2024 (EPA)

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, affirmed on Monday the need to return to diplomacy to resolve the crisis over Iran's nuclear program.
The Iran 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), currently holds no real significance because no one is following it, Grossi told the Russian newspaper Izvestia.
The agreement exists only on paper and means nothing, he said.
The IAEA chief said, “There have been attempts to revive it here in Vienna, but unfortunately, despite coming close to success, they fell through for reasons unknown to me.”
Grossi mentioned that the US and Iran are blaming each other for its failure, adding that the Agency wasn’t directly involved in the diplomatic process.
The UN agency’s chief said he always informs the Iranians of the necessity of ensuring minimum access to Iranian nuclear facilities to help return to the second version of the deal.
He then stressed the importance of avoiding a repeat of the North Korean scenario, where decades of negotiations ultimately proved futile.
Grossi also said Russia plays a very important role in this diplomacy, trying to keep the Iranian program within a predictable and peaceful framework.
When asked whether the UN agency was satisfied with the level of gaining access to Iranian nuclear facilities, he said there are problems.
“We do cooperate with Iran. I don't deny this. This is important for inspection. My Iranian colleagues often say that Iran is the most inspected country in the world. Well, it is, and for good reason. But this is not enough,” he warned.
Grossi added that since signing the agreement in 2015, Iran’s program “has expanded significantly” and that Iranians are capable of producing the latest generation of centrifuges, building new facilities and much more.
The IAEA chief then stressed the need for Iranians to acknowledge the fact that the international community does not completely trust them.
He affirmed that his agency does not pursue an anti-Iranian policy and reiterated the request for Tehran's cooperation.

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World

Israel Jails Soldier for Sending Missile Intercept Videos to Iran Agent

Interceptors rise into the sky after Iran launched missiles into Israel, as seen from central Israel, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Interceptors rise into the sky after Iran launched missiles into Israel, as seen from central Israel, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israel Jails Soldier for Sending Missile Intercept Videos to Iran Agent

Interceptors rise into the sky after Iran launched missiles into Israel, as seen from central Israel, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)
Interceptors rise into the sky after Iran launched missiles into Israel, as seen from central Israel, February 28, 2026. (Reuters)

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had sentenced an active-duty soldier to five years in prison for sending videos of missile interceptions to an Iranian agent.

The soldier sent two such videos during the 12-day war with Iran in June last year and "received payment for them," the military said. It added that he had also shared several videos filmed in civilian locations with the Iranian agent.

The footage sent from civilian locations included one documenting a missile impact that the soldier had found online, the military said.

"Eventually, after feeling pressured, the defendant informed someone in his military unit that he had been in contact with a foreign agent," the military said.

"The following day, he was arrested by the Shin Bet," it said, without specifying exactly when the arrest took place.

The soldier was contacted through his Telegram account, where he received messages that included job offers.

The messages also included an offer from an Iranian agent asking whether he would like to earn money "by carrying out photography-related tasks," it said.

Military prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison sentence for the soldier, whose identity was not disclosed.

"The court took into account that the defendant had not transmitted military information or information obtained through his military duties, that he himself terminated the contact with the foreign agent, and that he promptly reported the contact to his commanders," the military said.

"The court sentenced the defendant to five years' imprisonment, along with a suspended prison sentence, a fine of 1,000 shekels ($335), and reduction in rank to Private."

In June 2025, Israel attacked its arch-foe Iran in a war that lasted 12 days and also saw Tehran firing missiles at Israel.

Israel's ally, the United States, entered the war during its final days.

The two allies struck Iran for the second time on February 28, killing the country's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the campaign.

World

US Expands Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil, Cryptocurrency Sectors

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on during a bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on during a bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)
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US Expands Sanctions Targeting Iran Oil, Cryptocurrency Sectors

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on during a bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on during a bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. (Reuters)

The United States on Tuesday expanded its sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector, taking further aim at the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the Treasury Department said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department had also frozen $130 million held in digital wallets linked to Iran's central bank, hitting a sector that has seen increased activity since the start of the war.

The move came after US forces carried out a fourth straight day of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade, with Iran in turn hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization.

Iran started blocking the strait -- a key waterway for energy transit -- after US-Israel attacks in February. Washington imposed an initial blockade on Tehran's ports from mid-April to mid-June.

"This action is part of Treasury's ongoing efforts to ramp up economic pressure on the Iranian regime after it resumed destabilizing attacks in the Strait of Hormuz," the Treasury Department said in a notice Tuesday.

It charged that the Shamkhani network remains a key force behind Iran's oil exports, and has expanded into global commodities trading.

The latest move took aim at more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels that it said enabled Iranian authorities to reap profit.

The Treasury Department added that it has now imposed sanctions on over 200 individuals, entities and vessels operating under Shamkhani's patronage.

Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, an advisor to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Both were killed February 28, the first day of US-Israeli attacks and the start of the Middle East war.

Bessent said the department "sanctioned multiple wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran, resulting in the freeze of over $130 million."

"We will continue to aggressively follow the money and deny the Iranian regime access to the proceeds of its illicit revenue schemes," he said in a post on X.

Experts say digital asset platforms have been used to circumvent sanctions placed on Iran's Revolutionary Guards and as a financial safe haven for civilians hit by soaring inflation.

Iran has largely been cut off from the global financial system due to US and European sanctions in place for years before the war. Cryptocurrency has offered a path for citizens and businesses to transact with the rest of the world.

World

Historic Agreement Facilitates Border Crossing Between Spain and Gibraltar

Against the backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar, workers dismantle a Spanish border checkpoint that separated the disputed British overseas territory from Spain in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP)
Against the backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar, workers dismantle a Spanish border checkpoint that separated the disputed British overseas territory from Spain in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP)
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Historic Agreement Facilitates Border Crossing Between Spain and Gibraltar

Against the backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar, workers dismantle a Spanish border checkpoint that separated the disputed British overseas territory from Spain in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP)
Against the backdrop of the Rock of Gibraltar, workers dismantle a Spanish border checkpoint that separated the disputed British overseas territory from Spain in La Línea de la Concepción, Spain, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP)

Thousands of workers crossing daily between Spain and Gibraltar will enter a new era of easier travel on Wednesday, as border checks that have long been a source of tension are lifted, according to AFP.

The agreement, signed on Tuesday in Brussels, was reached six years after Britain's exit from the European Union. It is designed to facilitate the movement of people and goods between Gibraltar and Spain and avoid lengthy delays for workers who cross the border each day.

Home to only around 40,000 people, the tiny self-governing British territory at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula relies on about 15,000 daily cross-border workers from Spain, who make up nearly half of its workforce.

During rush hours, long lines can form at the land border and documents are checked -- especially during periods of tension between Britain and Spain, which claims sovereignty over Gibraltar.

A smoother border will make it easier for Gibraltar businesses to recruit and retain workers who live in Spain, as the “hassle” of crossing the frontier can be “significant,” said Owen Smith, head of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses.

“It's been a big factor in retention, and certainly a fluid border is going to make life much easier,” he told AFP, calling it “very, very positive.”

The agreement will align Gibraltar with the rules of Europe’s passport-free Schengen travel area.

It was reached after years of talks between Spain, Britain and the EU.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Cadena SER on Tuesday that the agreement “opens a new era” and “great prospects three centuries later.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to visit the frontier zone on Wednesday, where workers have in recent weeks taken down the old chain-link fencing between Gibraltar and Spain.

He has hailed the new arrangements as bringing down “the last wall” inside the EU. “We have managed, after hundreds of years to bring down the last wall in the European Union,” he said.

The border was closed by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco in 1969 after Gibraltar, which relies on London for defense and foreign policy, voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to remain British.

The closure, which lasted 13 years, cut off the daily movement of workers from Spain into Gibraltar and separated families.

Since then, long queues have repeatedly formed at the Gibraltar-Spain border when diplomatic tensions over the territory's sovereignty have led to tighter controls by Spain.

“It is important that this sword of Damocles disappears,” said Manuel Triano Paulete, secretary general of the CCOO trade union in Spain's Campo de Gibraltar region which surrounds the British territory, saying cross-border workers often did not know how long it would take them to get to work.

Gibraltar -- which covers just under seven square kilometers -- has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.

It has long been a lifeline for people who live in Campo de Gibraltar, which has historically had one of Spain's highest jobless rates.

London and Madrid have disputed control of Gibraltar since the tiny territory was ceded to Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.