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.



New Israeli Poll Shows Netanyahu’s Party Advancing 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)
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New Israeli Poll Shows Netanyahu’s Party Advancing 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference for the international media at the Government Press office in Jerusalem, Sept. 4 2024. (Reuters)

An opinion poll on Friday showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party would form the largest single party in parliament if an election were held now, underlining a gradual recovery since the Oct. 7 attacks last year.

The poll, published in the left-wing Ma'ariv daily, showed Likud winning 24 seats, against 32 at present, its highest score in the Ma'ariv poll since Oct. 7. It put the National Unity Party led by centrist former general Benny Gantz on 21.

Netanyahu's right-wing coalition with a clutch of nationalist-religious and ultra-Orthodox parties would lose any election held now, with 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament, against 58 for the main opposition bloc, according to the poll.

But Likud's advance shows how far Netanyahu has moved since last year when his standing was hit by public fury at the security failures when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Earlier in the war against Hamas in Gaza, opinion polls regularly showed Likud gaining no more than 16-18 seats in parliament.

The survey also showed Netanyahu's personal standing as prime minister recovering, with respondents favoring him over any alternative potential candidate apart from former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who is now out of politics.

Despite coalition tensions between Netanyahu and several ministers, and regular protests by Israelis demanding a deal to bring home the Gaza hostages, the government has held together for almost two years. An election is not due until 2026.

Netanyahu has clashed with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, from his own party, and two hardliners - National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

While Likud has climbed steadily, support has not followed for the two nationalist religious parties, Jewish Power, led by Ben-Gvir, and Religious Zionism, under Smotrich, giving both parties an incentive not to leave the government.