US, Europe Condemn Iran for Continuing to Develop Nuclear Program 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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US, Europe Condemn Iran for Continuing to Develop Nuclear Program 

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)

The United States, France, Germany and Britian condemned Iran for its lack of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In a statement on Wednesday, they noted the “continued expansion of Iran’s nuclear activities, in increasing violation” of its commitments to the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

They said the IAEA “recalls once again that it is not able to ensure Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, and highlights that Iran is the only state without nuclear weapons to undertake production and accumulation of high enriched uranium.”

Iran “has been blatantly violating all JCPOA limits on both enrichment and accumulation of enriched uranium. Its stockpile of high enriched uranium up to 60 % has continued to grow significantly, without any credible civilian justification.”

“Iran now has almost four IAEA significant quantities of high enriched uranium, which the IAEA defines as the approximate amount of nuclear material from which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded,” continued the statement.

Over the last three months, Iran has also substantially expanded its overall production capacity by installing and operating new advanced centrifuges, it added.

“Iran’s escalating nuclear activities significantly harm international security and undermine the global non-proliferation architecture,” it warned.

“We will continue consultations, alongside international partners, on how best to address collective doubts of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” it vowed.

“We remain committed to a diplomatic solution and stand ready to use all diplomatic levers available to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons,” it stressed.



Germany Arrests Syrian National Over Plot to Kill Soldiers

07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa
07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa
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Germany Arrests Syrian National Over Plot to Kill Soldiers

07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa
07 September 2024, Saxony-Anhalt, Schierke: A Bundeswehr helicopter flies to fight the forest fire in the Koenigsberg. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa

A 27-year-old Syrian national suspected of extremism has been arrested over a plot to kill German soldiers with machetes in the Bavarian town of Hof, prosecutors said on Friday.
The accused obtained two machetes approximately 40 cm (15.75 inches) long. He planned to attack Bundeswehr soldiers in Hof who were spending their lunch break there, and to kill as many of them as possible, a statement said.
"With the act, the accused wanted to attract attention and create a feeling of uncertainty among the population," Reuters quoted it as saying.
Germany is tightening border controls after recent deadly knife attacks in which the suspects were asylum seekers.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a knife attack in the western city of Solingen that killed three people in August.
Immigration and security concerns have shot up the agenda ahead of elections in the state of Brandenburg, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is polling strongly.