Iran Rejects Allegation of Interference in US Election

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Photo: Iran's Foreign Ministry
The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Photo: Iran's Foreign Ministry
TT

Iran Rejects Allegation of Interference in US Election

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Photo: Iran's Foreign Ministry
The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Photo: Iran's Foreign Ministry

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani has rejected claims made by US Attorney General Merrick Garland about increasing efforts by some countries, including Iran, to interfere in the US presidential elections.

Kanaani rejected the “hackneyed, baseless and biased” allegations, saying such accusations pursue domestic political objectives in the US.

"We will be relentlessly aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by Russia and Iran, as well as China or any other foreign malign actor, (to) interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy," Garland said earlier this week.

Kanaani reminded the American officials that they cannot heal the rifts and settle their country’s internal problems, which he said have structural, political and social roots, by pinning the blame on others and leveling accusations against the foreign countries.

“The US government, which spearheads illegal interference in the internal affairs of the other independent states and has a litany of such destructive measures on its record, cannot attribute its domestic problems and crises to the other countries by making accusations against them or cover up the dark record of its extrajudicial actions and interference in the internal affairs of the independent states,” he added.



France Adds First Nuclear Reactor in 25 Years to Grid

A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
TT

France Adds First Nuclear Reactor in 25 Years to Grid

A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo
A general view of the three reactors making up the Flamanville nuclear power plant with the third-generation European Pressurised Water nuclear reactor (EPR) in the background in Flamanville, France, April 25, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo

France connected the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor to its grid on Saturday morning, state-run operator EDF said, in the first addition to the country's nuclear power network in 25 years.

The reactor, which began operating in September ahead of the grid connection, is going online 12 years later than originally planned and at a cost of around 13 billion euros - four times the original budget.

"EDF teams have achieved the first connection of the Flamanville EPR to the national grid at 11:48am (1048 GMT). The reactor is now generating electricity," EDF said in a statement, Reuters reported.

The Flamanville 3 European Pressurised Reactor is France's largest at 1.6 gigawatts (GW) and one of the world's biggest, along with China's 1.75 GW Taishan reactor, which is based on a similar design, and Finland's Olkiluoto.

It is the first to be connected to the grid since Civaux 2 in 1999 but is being brought into service at a time of sluggish consumption, with France exporting a record amount of electricity this year.

EDF is planning to build another six new reactors to fulfil a 2022 pledge made by President Emmanuel Macron as part of the country's energy transition plans, although questions remain around the funding and timeline of the new projects.