live U.S. to impose measures "never seen before" on Iran, Treasury secretary says
The U.S. will impose unprecedented measures on Iran in order to economically isolate the country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said...
Iran’s atomic energy chief says Tehran could dilute uranium enriched to 60 per cent if all international sanctions are lifted, stressing that technical nuclear issues are being discussed alongside political matters in ongoing negotiations.
Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency remains in place but accused the agency of failing to address what he described as a military attack on nuclear facilities under safeguards.
“Our relations with the Agency are established but the Agency has an unfinished task regarding a military attack on facilities under safeguards supervision,” Eslami said, according to ISNA. “If we are under the Agency’s supervision and accreditation, it cannot remain silent about what happened.”
Eslami said IAEA inspectors have continued visits to nuclear sites that were not damaged, with approval from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. He added that inspections resumed after the war and that inspectors are currently visiting additional facilities.
He stressed that Iran expects its rights to be respected under IAEA regulations, saying the agency has a duty to support and promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology for all countries, including Iran.
Asked specifically about the possibility of diluting uranium enriched to 60 per cent, Eslami said the issue depends entirely on whether all sanctions are lifted in return.
Uranium enrichment has long been a core point of tension between Iran and the U.S., with Washington arguing that enrichment to high levels has no credible civilian justification and poses proliferation risks. Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran agreed to cap enrichment at 3.67 per cent in exchange for sanctions relief but it began enriching uranium to much higher levels after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sanctions.
Iran is now enriching uranium to up to 60 per cent purity - a level far above what is needed for civilian energy use, though still below weapons-grade, which starts at around 90 per cent.
U.S. officials and European allies say higher enrichment levels significantly shorten the time Iran would need to produce weapons-grade material, increasing pressure on diplomatic efforts. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, insisting its programme is peaceful and subject to international monitoring.
Tehran says any rollback of its nuclear activities depends on sanctions relief and recognition of its right to enrich uranium, while Washington has demanded verifiable limits on enrichment before easing sanctions.
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Friday as ash from Mount Etna continues to disrupt air travel, following hundreds of cancellations and diversions over the past week.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
Russia has accused Ukraine of threatening global grain supplies after recent strikes on Black Sea agricultural infrastructure, while Moscow carried out a new overnight attack on Ukraine’s major Danube port of Izmail.
Former Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pakayin has called on Tehran to ratify the Caspian Sea convention, arguing that doing so would safeguard Iran’s legal and regional interests.
The suspension of two major grain terminals in Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk could increase pressure on Kazakhstan’s agricultural market if Russian exporters divert supplies to Central Asia at discounted prices.
Georgia’s Prime Minister says the EU’s inclusion of a major Black Sea cable project on a key infrastructure list is fresh evidence of the country’s importance to regional energy and digital connectivity.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has dismissed Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan and appointed former parliament speaker Alen Simonyan as his replacement.
Central Asia’s economy has surpassed $543 billion, driven by Kazakhstan’s economic weight, strong exports and foreign investment, while growing trade across Asia points to an increasingly connected region.
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