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Iran has escalated its uranium enrichment further with the use of advanced machines at its underground Fordow plant, the UN atomic watchdog said in a report on Saturday.
Specifically, the use of so-called modified sub-headers means that Tehran can switch more quickly and easily to enriching to higher purity levels.
While the Islamic Republic is required to inform the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about such a switch, if it chose not to it could escape detection for some time as there is a lag between Iran’s enrichment and the IAEA inspectors’ verification of what has been produced at Fordow.
The move is the latest of many breaches, going well beyond the restrictions that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – more commonly known as the Iran Deal – imposed on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear activities.
Tehran is already enriching to up to 60 percent elsewhere, above the up to 20 percent it had produced before the 2015 deal with major powers that capped its enrichment level at 3.67 percent.
The IAEA’s report comes as talks to revive the nuclear accord are at an impasse, with Western powers having warned that time is running out to reach an agreement.
The United States pulled out of the Iran Deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, re-imposing sanctions against Tehran that the deal had lifted.
Meanwhile, the current US administration of President Joe Biden is adamant about reviving the JCPOA.
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Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over the weekend in advance of US President Joe Biden’s visit this week to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Separately, President Isaac Herzog spoke with Abbas, and Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with the PA president in Ramallah, in what is the third such meeting between the two men in less than a year.
Lapid’s call on Friday with Abbas was the first conversation between an Israeli prime minister and the PA president in over five years.
“The two spoke about the continuation of cooperation and the need to ensure quiet and calm,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Abbas had congratulated Lapid on becoming Israel’s premier, the statement said, while Lapid passed along his best wishes to the Palestinian leader ahead of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday which began on Friday.
Biden is expected to land in Israel on Wednesday, placing the initial focus of his visit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is also set to visit the West Bank where he will meet with Abbas – in the first meeting between the Palestinian leader and a US President since 2017.
Biden’s trip to Israel will include meetings with Israeli leaders, a tour of several Israeli security systems including Iron Beam, a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem and a speech at the opening ceremony of the Maccabiah Games.
The US president will then meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, where the former is expected to announce a package aimed at strengthening the PA.
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Joe Biden said he will be the first American president to fly from Israel directly to Saudi Arabia this week when he visits those countries on an official trip to the region, in a “small symbol” of the warming ties between Israel and the Arab world and “steps toward normalization.”
In a Washington Post opinion article on Saturday titled, Why I’m Going To Saudi Arabia, Biden said he will make the trip from Israel to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where “leaders from across the region will gather, pointing to the possibility of a more stable and integrated Middle East, with the United States playing a vital leadership role.”
Following his scheduled two-day visit to Israel, Biden will then fly to Saudi Arabia on Friday for a Saturday meeting with regional Mideast leaders as part of the GCC+3 summit (the Gulf Cooperation Council — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE along with Iraq, Egypt and Jordan).
In an initiative it is hoping to solidify before the president lands, the US is working to finalize the transfer of a pair of Red Sea islands from Egyptian to Saudi control as part of an agreement that would see Riyadh take a series of steps to normalize ties with Israel.
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More than 50 Israeli athletes will be in Birmingham, Alabama this month to participate in the World Games, including those competing in a team sport for the first time.
The World Games, held every four years, will take place in venues around Birmingham from July 7 to 17. Some 3,600 international athletes from 110 countries will participate in 200-plus medal competitions in 34 sports, most of which are not on the Olympic roster.
Israel will compete in the Acrobatics, DanceSport, Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing, Lacrosse, Muay Thai, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Sport Climbing, Wakeboard and Wushu categories.
Founded in 1980, the World Games is a non-governmental body under Swiss law that holds a major international competition consisting of sports that are not represented in the Olympics, but, in many cases, are working their way into the Olympics.
It is estimated that at least 400,000 and perhaps 1 million people will come through Birmingham during the competition.
Recommended Reading
- West Bank Security Fence Has Been Israel’s Lifesaver (Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post)
- What Is the US Agenda for the Eastern Mediterranean? (Prof. Efaim Enbar, Israel Hayom)
- Israeli Family Risks It All to Retrieve Rare Ethiopian Version of the Book of Psalms (Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency/Times of Israel)
- Communal Effort Ensures Jewish Survival (Pini Dunner, Algemeiner)
- 16 Things You Didn’t Know About the Maccabiah Games (Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21C)
