UN Nuclear Head Renews Call for Iran to Allow Inspections at Key Sites

Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared in recent years (Joe Klamar)
Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared in recent years (Joe Klamar)
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UN Nuclear Head Renews Call for Iran to Allow Inspections at Key Sites

Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared in recent years (Joe Klamar)
Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared in recent years (Joe Klamar)

The head of the UN nuclear agency on Wednesday renewed his call for Iran to allow inspections at key nuclear sites attacked by Israel and the United States in June.

Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared in recent years and were further inflamed after a 12-day war in June that saw Israeli and US strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Since the war, agency inspectors have not been granted access to sites such as Fordo and Natanz, which were hit in the strikes, but they have been able to visit other sites.

"We have performed a number of inspections, but we have not been able to go to the attack sites. I hope we will be able. Indeed, we have to go because this is part of Iran's commitments," IAEA head Rafael Grossi told reporters after opening the regular board meeting of the Vienna-based agency.

"I hope we'll be able to move in a constructive manner."

Britain, France, Germany and the US have submitted a draft resolution to the board, seen by AFP on Wednesday, urging Iran to "cooperate fully" with the IAEA.

The draft, which is expected to be voted on by the IAEA board during its meeting this week, stresses that it is "imperative" for Iran to comply with its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

It also urges Iran to provide "access that the agency requests".

Iranian officials warned against adopting an anti-Iran resolution, deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi saying on Sunday it would force his country to "conduct a fundamental review" of its relations with the agency.

Grossi said on Wednesday it would not be "logical" for a resolution to prompt less cooperation with his agency.

Last week the IAEA called on Iran to allow it to verify its enriched uranium inventories, especially its sensitive stockpile of highly enriched uranium that was "long overdue", according to a confidential report seen by AFP.

"This is the consensus -- and also being confirmed by the Iranian government -- that the stockpile of enriched uranium is still there, so we need to check on that," Grossi said on Wednesday.

In the aftermath of the June war, Tehran suspended its cooperation with the IAEA and restricted the watchdog's inspectors from accessing the bombed sites, accusing it of bias and failing to condemn the attacks.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that "no enrichment" was taking place at present because the sites were damaged in the Israel war and that the country had no undeclared uranium enrichment sites.

The assertion came after US media reported that Iran had accelerated construction at a secret underground nuclear site called "Pickaxe Mountain", or Kuh-e Kolang, near its Natanz facility.



Son of Ousted Iran Shah Urges Protesters to 'Prepare to Seize' City Centers

FILE - Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, speaks during a news conference, June 23, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
FILE - Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, speaks during a news conference, June 23, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
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Son of Ousted Iran Shah Urges Protesters to 'Prepare to Seize' City Centers

FILE - Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, speaks during a news conference, June 23, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)
FILE - Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, speaks during a news conference, June 23, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, File)

The US-based son of Iran's ousted shah urged Iranians on Saturday to stage more targeted protests with the aim of taking and then holding city centers.

"Our goal is no longer just to take to the streets. The goal is to prepare to seize and hold city centers," Reza Pahlavi said in a video message on social media, urging more protests on Saturday and Sunday and adding he was also "preparing to return to my homeland" in a day he believed was "very near".
Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday after authorities blacked out the internet to curb growing unrest, as video showed buildings aflame in anti-government protests raging in cities across the country.

Rights groups have already documented dozens of deaths of protesters in nearly two weeks and, with Iranian state TV showing clashes and fires, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several police officers had been killed overnight.

In a televised address, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down, accusing demonstrators of acting on behalf of émigré opposition groups and the United States, and a public prosecutor threatened death sentences.


‘We Don’t Want to Be Americans’: Greenland’s Political Parties

 A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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‘We Don’t Want to Be Americans’: Greenland’s Political Parties

 A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)

"We don't want to be Americans," Greenland's political parties said after US President Donald Trump again suggested using force to seize the mineral-rich Danish autonomous territory.

The statement late Friday came after Trump repeated that Washington was "going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not".

"We don't want to be Americans, we don't want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders," the leaders of five parties in Greenland's parliament said.

"The future of Greenland must be decided by Greenlanders."

Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump's threats to take control of Greenland, where the United States already has a military base.

Trump says controlling the strategic island is crucial for US national security given the rising military activity of Russia and China in the Arctic.

"We're not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland. That's what they're going to do if we don't. So we're going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way," the US president said Friday.

Both Russia and China have increased military activity in the region in recent years, but neither has laid any claim to the vast icy island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an invasion of Greenland would end "everything", meaning the transatlantic NATO defense pact and the post-World War II security structure.

Trump has made light of the concerns of Denmark, a steadfast US ally that joined the United States in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"I'm a fan of Denmark, too, I have to tell you. And you know, they've been very nice to me," Trump said.

"But you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn't mean that they own the land."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet next week with Denmark's foreign minister and representatives from Greenland.


Iran 'Nationwide Internet Blackout' Still in Place after 36 Hours

In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people blocking an intersection during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people blocking an intersection during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)
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Iran 'Nationwide Internet Blackout' Still in Place after 36 Hours

In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people blocking an intersection during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people blocking an intersection during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC via AP)

A "nationwide internet blackout" implemented by the Iranian authorities as protesters take to the streets has now been in place for 36 hours, monitor Netblocks said on Saturday.

"After another night of protests met with repression, metrics show the nationwide internet blackout remains in place at 36 hours," it said in a post on X.