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.



Mother, Relatives Charged Over 8-year-old Girl's Killing in Türkiye

Protesters hold portraits of eight-year-old Narin Guran, whose body was found after being missing for 19 days, during a protest at Kadikoy district in Istanbul, on September 8,2024. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
Protesters hold portraits of eight-year-old Narin Guran, whose body was found after being missing for 19 days, during a protest at Kadikoy district in Istanbul, on September 8,2024. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
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Mother, Relatives Charged Over 8-year-old Girl's Killing in Türkiye

Protesters hold portraits of eight-year-old Narin Guran, whose body was found after being missing for 19 days, during a protest at Kadikoy district in Istanbul, on September 8,2024. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)
Protesters hold portraits of eight-year-old Narin Guran, whose body was found after being missing for 19 days, during a protest at Kadikoy district in Istanbul, on September 8,2024. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP)

A Turkish court on Friday jailed pending trial the mother and brother of a murdered eight-year-old girl whose body was found in a sack hidden under rocks in a case that horrified the nation and triggered protests since her disappearance three weeks ago.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he would seek the most severe punishment for those responsible for the death of Narin Guran, whose body was found in a village near Diyarbakir, the largest city in southeast Türkiye.

Prosecutors at a Diyarbakir court charged the girl's mother and brother of participating in the murder, while six people including an uncle and cousins were charged with destroying evidence. Another uncle was earlier charged with murder.

Political parties and women's groups have held protests in various cities across Türkiye to demand justice for Guran, whose murder triggered an outpouring of shock on social media, especially because of the number of relatives allegedly involved in her killing.

Guran went missing on Aug. 21 from her village, some 10 km south of Diyarbakir. Her body was found in a sack hidden under rocks in a nearby stream on Sept 8.

It was not clear how she was killed, but media reports said the autopsy revealed she had lesions on her neck.