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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN nuclear watchdog pulls its inspectors out of Iran after Tehran suspends cooperation
2025-07-05
[IsraelTimes] Iranian foreign minister says Tehran remains committed to nuclear non-proliferation treaty; UN nuclear watchdog chief says inspection regime must not be interrupted

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
as a standoff deepens over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Theocratic Republic three weeks ago. The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that that is his top priority.

Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

"An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict," the IAEA said on X.

Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied that it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

IAEA WANTS TALKS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday that Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"(Grossi) reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible," the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what happened to much of Iran’s nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kilograms enriched to up to 60 percent purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing an atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which is normally closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.

"We cannot afford that .... the inspection regime is interrupted," Grossi told a presser in Vienna last week.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran rejects EU's call to negotiate termination of nuclear program
2025-07-04
Be smarter, guys. The next invite won’t be as nice.
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed the European Union's recent push to initiate talks aimed at halting Iran's nuclear program.

The statement came on Wednesday in response to comments made by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who on Tuesday urged Iran to engage in immediate negotiations to curb its nuclear activities.

In a post on X, Araghchi on Wednesday stated that Kallas disregarded the principles enshrined in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which explicitly affirms the right of all signatory states, including Iran, to develop, research, and utilize nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

He argued that the EU's call undermines Iran's sovereign rights under international law and fails to acknowledge the complexities of the existing nuclear agreements.

Araghchi further criticized the EU's stance by referencing UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Araghchi rejected the involvement of the EU and the UK in any future negotiations, stating that their participation would be irrelevant and meaningless.

He contended that the resolution and the JCPOA framework have been undermined by the withdrawal of key parties, particularly the United States in 2018, rendering mechanisms like the ''snapback'' sanctions process obsolete and legally baseless.

Iran has intensified asserting its nuclear rights since the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA under the Trump administration, reimposing stringent sanctions. The Islamic Republic has since scaled back its compliance with the deal, advancing its uranium enrichment activities while maintaining that its program is for peaceful purposes, such as energy production and medical research.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Trump: I’m not talking to Iran, nor offering it anything after US struck nuke sites
2025-07-01
[IsraelTimes] Tehran criticizes US president for sanctions ‘games,’ says its usual IAEA cooperation cannot be expected; France, Germany, UK condemn Iran’s ‘threats’ against watchdog head

US President Donald Trump said Monday he is not holding discussions with Iranian leaders and not offering them anything, as European nations condemned “threats” against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog.

In a middle-of-the-night post on Truth Social, Trump said, “I am not offering Iran ANYTHING, unlike Obama, who paid them $Billions under the stupid ‘road to a nuclear weapon JCPOA (which would now be expired!), nor am I even talking to them since we totally OBLITERATED their Nuclear Facilities.”

The social media post was a response to comments by Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who told Fox News on Sunday that reports suggested Trump “is now moving toward negotiation and offering Iran a deal that looks somewhat similar to the Iran deal that was offered by Obama. Tens of billions of dollars of incentives and reduced sanctions in exchange for abandoning their nuclear program.”

On Friday, the US president dismissed media reports that said his administration had discussed possibly helping Iran access as much as $30 billion to build a civilian energy-producing nuclear program.

Iran on Monday criticized Trump’s apparently shifting stance on whether to lift economic sanctions against it as “games” that were not aimed at solving the problems between the two countries.

“These [statements by Trump] should be viewed more in the context of psychological and media games than as a serious expression in favor of dialogue or problem-solving,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference.

Meanwhile, France, Germany and Britain on Monday condemned “threats” against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog after Iran rejected its request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the United States.

Tehran has accused Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, of “betrayal of his duties” for not condemning the Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, and Iranian lawmakers this week voted to suspend cooperation with the agency.

“France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn threats against the director general of the IAEA Rafael Grossi and reiterate our full support to the agency,” foreign ministers Jean-Noel Barrot, Johann Wadephul and David Lammy said in a joint statement.

“We call on Iranian authorities to refrain from any steps to cease cooperation with the IAEA,” they added.

“We urge Iran to immediately resume full cooperation in line with its legally binding obligations, and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of IAEA personnel.”

Argentina, Grossi’s home country, has also slammed “threats” against him from Iran.

None specified which threats they were referring to, but Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently claimed documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites was “meaningless and possibly even malign in intent.”

Iran has said it believes an IAEA resolution on June 12 that accused Iran of ignoring its nuclear obligations served as an “excuse” for the war that Israel launched on June 13 and that ended with a ceasefire last week.

Speaking to US broadcaster CBS on Sunday, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani denied there was any threat to nuclear inspectors in Iran, insisting they were “in safe conditions” but their work was suspended.

However, Baghaei said Monday that Iran cannot be expected to ensure usual cooperation with the IAEA when the security of agency inspectors cannot be guaranteed after the nuclear sites were hit by Israel and the US.

Baghaei said a parliamentary bill approved by the Guardian Council makes it mandatory for the government to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

“Iran shouldn’t be expected to accept its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) when the UN nuclear watchdog has stopped short of condemning the attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites,” he said.
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Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Medvedev completely rejected the possibility of transferring nuclear weapons to Iran
2025-06-24
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

This is the aftermath of being taken to the woodshed...
[Regnum] Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, in response to the concerns of US President Donald Trump, who suggested the possibility of transferring nuclear weapons to Iran, said that Russia does not intend to do so.
Good. That would have been really, really dumb. Because they consider you infidels in need of conquering, too, and there is no guarantee that feeding that particular alligator would get you eaten last.
Medvedev wrote about this in English on the X social network, commenting on criticism of him from the head of the White House.

"As for President Trump's concerns: I condemn the US strike on Iran - it did not achieve its goals.
Apparently it did… or at least pushed the deadline considerably further off.
However, Russia does not intend to supply nuclear weapons to Iran because, unlike Israel, we are parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Medvedev wrote.
*Snicker* Like you, Israel was not going to supply Iran with nukes. So nice to see you both in agreement on the subject.
He indicated that he was well aware of what such a move could lead to, since he also controlled Russia's nuclear forces when he was president. At the same time, Medvedev warned that other countries could make deliveries.

In addition, Medvedev recalled that the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which he signed with the 44th US President Barack Obama, is still in effect.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
No nuclear contamination or risks to civilian caused by US airstrikes, Iran confirms; sat. images indicate severe damage to Fordo
2025-06-23
[HODHODYEMENNEWS.NET] In the first official Iranian response to US Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s that targeted three nuclear sites within the country, Iranian authorities confirmed Sunday morning that there were ''no signs of contamination'' or threats to nearby populations.

Iranian officials emphasized that the core infrastructure of the nuclear facilities remains intact and secure.

"There may be 2,000 to 3,000 more centrifuges that were slated to go into this new enrichment plant," he said. "Where are they?"
Iran's Atomic Energy Organization stated it had immediately conducted inspections, confirming that ''there are no signs of contamination resulting from the American attacks on the nuclear sites.''

The National Nuclear Safety System Center added that monitoring systems detected no radiation leakage at the Fordow, Natanz, or Isfahan nuclear facilities, affirming that the situation is fully under control.

In related remarks, the representative of Qom in the Iranian parliament Mohammad Manan Raeisi assured that Fordow nuclear facility had not sustained serious damage contrary to the US President's claim.

He said that only the part that was on the ground had been damages which can be restored.

Raeisi said assured the people in the region that there was no radioactive emission after the aggression as the risky material had been evacuated from the site.

He said that it is now Iran's turn how to respond to the US president's foolish action in attacking Iranian nuclear sites.

They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing "unusual activity" at Fordo on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance of the facility.
''There is no danger to the people of Qom and the surrounding area'', said the province's crisis management department, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Satellite images indicate severe damage to Fordo in US strikes, but doubts remain

[israelTimes] 6 holes seen punched into mountain above Iran’s deep nuclear plant, after series of bunker-busting bombs dropped; experts worry that nuclear material was moved prior to the attack

Commercial satellite imagery indicates the US attack on Iran’s Fordo nuclear plant severely damaged — and possibly destroyed — the deeply-buried site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but there is no confirmation, experts said on Sunday.

"They just punched through with these MOPs," said David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector who heads the Institute for Science and International Security, referring to the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-busting bombs that the US said it dropped. "I would expect that the facility is probably toast."

But confirmation of the below-ground destruction could not be determined, noted Decker Eveleth, an associate researcher with the CNA Corporation who specializes in satellite imagery. The hall containing hundreds of centrifuges is "too deeply buried for us to evaluate the level of damage based on satellite imagery," he said.

To defend against attacks such as the one conducted by US forces early on Sunday, Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
buried much of its nuclear program in fortified sites deep underground, including into the side of a mountain at Fordo.

Satellite images show six holes where the bunker-busting bombs appear to have penetrated the mountain, and then ground that looks disturbed and covered in dust.

The United States and Israel have said they intend to halt Tehran’s nuclear program. But a failure to completely destroy its facilities and equipment could mean Iran could more easily restart the weapons program, which US intelligence and the UN ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say it shuttered in 2003, but which Israel says has continued in secret ever since.

Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But it has been enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian use, and has over the years regularly threatened to flatten Israeli cities.

’UNUSUAL ACTIVITY’
Several experts also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of Fordo before the strike early Sunday morning and could be hiding it and other nuclear components in locations unknown to Israel, the US, and UN nuclear inspectors.

They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing "unusual activity" at Fordo on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance of the facility. A senior Iranian source told Rooters on Sunday that most of the near weapons-grade 60-percent highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the US attack.

"I don’t think you can with great confidence do anything but set back their nuclear program by maybe a few years," said Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. "There’s almost certainly facilities that we don’t know about."

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a US Democrat and member of the Senate intelligence committee who said he had been reviewing intelligence every day, expressed the same concern.

"My big fear right now is that they take this entire program underground, not physically underground, but under the radar," he told NBC News. "Where we tried to stop it, there is a possibility that this could accelerate it."

In response to Israel’s attacks, Iran’s parliament is threatening to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the international system that went into force in 1970 to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, ending cooperation with the IAEA.

"The world is going to be in the dark about what Iran may be doing," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association advocacy group.

’DOUBLE TAP’
Rooters spoke to four experts who reviewed Maxar Technologies’ satellite imagery of Fordo, which shows six neatly spaced holes in two groups in the mountain ridge beneath which the hall containing the centrifuges is believed to be located.

General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told news hounds that seven B-2 bombers dropped 14 GBU-57/B MOPs, 30,000-pound precision-guided bombs designed to drive up to 200 feet (60 meters) into hardened underground facilities like Fordo, according to a 2012 congressional report.

Caine said initial assessments indicated that the sites suffered extremely severe damage, but declined to speculate about whether any nuclear facilities remained intact.

Eveleth said the Maxar imagery of Fordo and Caine’s comments indicated that the B-2s dropped an initial load of six MOPs on Fordo, followed by a "double tap" of six more in the exact same spots.

Operation Midnight Hammer also targeted Tehran’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, he said, and struck in Isfahan, the location of the country’s largest nuclear research center. There are other nuclear-related sites near the city.

Israel had already struck Natanz and the Isfahan Nuclear Research Center in its 10-day war with Iran.

Albright said in a post on X that Airbus Defence and Space satellite imagery showed that US Tomahawk cruise missiles severely damaged a uranium facility at Isfahan and an impact hole above the underground enrichment halls at Natanz reportedly caused by a Massive Ordnance Penetrator bunker-busting bomb that "likely destroyed the facility."

Albright questioned the US use of cruise missiles in Isfahan, saying that those weapons could not penetrate a tunnel complex near the main nuclear research center believed to be even deeper than Fordo. The IAEA said the tunnel entrances "were impacted."

He noted that Iran recently informed the IAEA that it planned to install a new uranium enrichment plant in Isfahan.

"There may be 2,000 to 3,000 more centrifuges that were slated to go into this new enrichment plant," he said. "Where are they?"
Related:
Fordo: 2025-06-22 Trump says US has bombed Fordo nuclear plant in attack on Iran UPDATE: Trump bombs 3 nuke sites
Fordo: 2025-06-22 Iranian - Israeli War News roundup for June 21st, 2025: nuke scientist and IRGC Paleo div chief toes up, IDF hits more drones, F-14s, Isfahan again; Iran shoots off ballistic missiles and drones
Fordo: 2025-06-22 Suspected Iranian drones, missile fragments fall in Kurdistan Region
Related:
Natanz: 2025-06-22 Trump says US has bombed Fordo nuclear plant in attack on Iran UPDATE: Trump bombs 3 nuke sites
Natanz: 2025-06-21 This Is Why Trump Is Giving Iran Two Weeks to Give Up its Nuclear Ambitions
Natanz: 2025-06-21 Iran: Between War of Attrition and Defeat
Related:
Isfahan: 2025-06-22 Trump says US has bombed Fordo nuclear plant in attack on Iran UPDATE: Trump bombs 3 nuke sites
Isfahan: 2025-06-22 Iranian - Israeli War News roundup for June 21st, 2025: nuke scientist and IRGC Paleo div chief toes up, IDF hits more drones, F-14s, Isfahan again; Iran shoots off ballistic missiles and drones
Isfahan: 2025-06-21 At least 23 wounded by Iranian missile in Haifa Friday afternoon, woman dies of heart attack in Karmiel; Friday morning an Iranian missile hit Beersheba for 2nd day, wounding 7 after the IAF did its thing over Iran overnight
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
DM liveblog: Iran marshals Islamic Army for all-out war as Israel makes desperate plea to Trump
2025-06-16
Update at 2:20 p.m. EDT:
Here are the main updates you need to know:

  • Iran's state broadcaster has been bombed live on air in an attack by Israel aimed at wiping out what it described as a 'propaganda megaphone'The attack happened as Israel urged all civilians in an area of northern Tehran to evacuate as it carries out further attacks on military infrastructure

  • Israel's defence minister warned television and radio are 'about to disappear' shortly before the blast

  • Iran's Revolutionary Guards responded by urging all residents of Tel Aviv to evacuate as soon as possible

  • It comes as Iran's leadership is reportedly showing the first signs of backing down after apparently signalling it is open to negotiations to end the hostilities with the US and Israel

  • Further reports claim Tehran has asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press Donald Trump to use his influence on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire

  • Earlier on Monday, Israeli authorities said 24 people have been killed as a result of Iranian missiles including 11 since midnight after attacks in the cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Bnei Brak and Petah Tikva. Iran says Israeli strikes have killed 224 people

  • US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee revealed the US Embassy suffered 'minor damage' amid the barrage of missiles which rained down on Israel Monday morning

  • The Israeli Air Force has claimed it has established full control of the skies above Tehran and has destroyed a third of Iran's ballistic missile launchers

  • Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed 'we will hold our ground' as he urged people in the country to unite against Israel

  • Videos circulating online appear to show some Iranians in Tehran and Karaj chanting slogans against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic

  • Iran is preparing to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an international pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons

  • US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is heading west towards the Middle East after leaving the South China Sea this morning

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel-Iran War. Day Two
2025-06-16
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] 1. In response to Israel's ongoing attacks on Tehran, Kermashah, Isfahan, Natanz, Shiraz, etc., Israel attacked again last night. Targets were hit in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Shiraz, Ashdod. The most extensive destruction was achieved in Tel Aviv and Haifa. There were hits on the oil refinery in Haifa, the Weizmann Institute in Tel Aviv, part of a high-rise building was demolished in Tel Aviv and some streets were turned into a branch of Gaza on the outskirts.

2. The attack demonstrated the power of modern Iranian missiles, which successfully penetrated the Iron Dome and American air defense systems, including THAAD. Hypersonics once again showed themselves to be excellent, demonstrating overwhelming superiority over current air defense systems. Israel sadly notes that Iran launches fewer missiles, but does so more accurately and effectively than in 2024.

3. After the attacks, Iran again announced that it would stop attacks on Israel if Israel stopped its aggression. Since Israel's attacks continued in the morning, we will see a third series of Iranian retaliatory strikes tonight. The IRGC and the Iranian military have the necessary sanction. As well as the resources of the missile cities, which were practically untouched by the Israeli attack.

4. The options for a nuclear deal with the US and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz are still on the table. Iran is ready for both negotiations and tough scenarios. In addition to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, these include withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The impasse in nuclear negotiations with the US was a derivative of the US desire to deprive Iran of both nuclear energy and missile production programs. Iran has always been ready to exchange the renunciation of nuclear weapons for the lifting of sanctions and the free development of nuclear energy. It is not going to renounce missiles either.

5. The US has not yet publicly stated its desire to get involved in the war on Israel's side, which Israel really wants and asks for, but this option is on the table for them too, they are now just watching how effectively Israel copes on its own. Judging by the hysteria in Tel Aviv, the backlash turned out to be unexpectedly powerful for them. The US is also watching the reaction of other players. According to a number of unconfirmed reports, China and Pakistan are providing indirect support to Iran.

6. A number of attacks in Tehran, which were passed off as missile strikes, turned out to be ordinary sabotage by Israeli agents. At night, a group of people with a vehicle for launching drones was detained again in the capital of Iran. They hit 2 oil depots in Tehran. The number of arrests in Iran is in the dozens, patrols have been increased on the streets. It is obvious that Israel still has the ability to carry out internal attacks. Take note, our special services.

7. On Iran's nuclear facilities. The Fordow facility is intact. The Natanz facility - the underground part is intact, the above-ground structures are destroyed. The Isfahan plant - significantly damaged. Israel was unable to destroy the two main facilities. The Fordow facility is the most difficult target.

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
After 5th round of nuclear talks, Iran says discussions with US ‘complicated’
2025-05-24
[IsraelTimes] Oman’s FM says ‘some but not conclusive progress’ made in negotiations

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran’s discussions with the United States over its nuclear program were "complicated," as the fifth round of talks concluded in Rome.

"The negotiations are too complicated to be resolved in two or three meetings," said Araghchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating team in the talks mediated by Oman.

Araghchi said there was potential for progress in nuclear negotiations after Oman made several proposals.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said "some but not conclusive progress" was made. "We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days to allow us to proceed toward the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honorable agreement."

The talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the foes since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord during President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
’s first term.

Since returning to office, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, backing talks but warning of military action if diplomacy fails.

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
wants a new deal that would ease the sanctions, which have battered its economy.

The fourth round of talks, in the Omani capital Muscat, ended with a public spat over enrichment. Witkoff said Washington "could not authorize even one percent" enrichment — a position Tehran called a red line, citing its rights under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ahead of Friday’s talks, Araghchi said "fundamental differences" remained with the United States, while adding that Tehran was open to its nuclear sites undergoing more inspections.

"We will not have an agreement at all" if the United States wants to prevent Iran from enriching uranium, he said.

The talks came ahead of a June meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the October expiry of the 2015 accord.

The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed to allay Western suspicions that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition that Tehran has denied, while enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian application.

In return for curbs on its nuclear program, Iran had received relief from international sanctions. But the accord was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions. Iran responded by ramping up its nuclear activities.

It is now enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the deal’s 3.67 percent cap but below, though close to, the 90 percent level needed for a nuclear warhead.

Analysts in Tehran said Iran was unlikely to back down.

"It’s quite simple; if the US expects Iran to halt nuclear enrichment, then there can’t be a deal," said Mohammad Marandi, a political scientist who was once an adviser on the nuclear issue.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran says the country’s nuclear industry employs 17,000 people, similar to other countries where uranium is enriched for civilian use.

"The Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, Brazil and Japan enrich without possessing nuclear weapons," its front man Behrouz Kamalvandi said.

Iran’s enmity with Israel, whose main backer is the United States, has been a constant backdrop to the talks.

In a letter to the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, Araghchi wrote: "We believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the US government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility."

The warning came after CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
, citing unnamed US officials, reported Israel was making preparations to carry out such a strike.

The White House said Trump had a "productive discussion" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about Iran and the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington.

Friday’s talks took place before an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna in June, during which Iran’s nuclear activities will be reviewed.

The 2015 deal provides for the possibility of UN sanctions being reimposed through a mechanism called "snapback" if Iran fails to fulfil its commitments.

The agreement’s three European parties — Britannia, La Belle France and Germany — have warned they will trigger the mechanism if the continent’s security is threatened.

Araghchi said such a move would have "consequences — not only the end of Europe’s role in the agreement, but also an escalation of tensions that could become irreversible."

Mosssd
...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
 chief David Barnea and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met US negotiator Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday on the talks’ sidelines.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon if the nation is threatened.

"Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so," a new report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency said.

"These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week."

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
 it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, experts say.

Asked about the negotiations, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said "we believe that we are going to succeed" in the talks and in Washington’s push for no enrichment.

"The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go," Bruce said Thursday.

One idea floated so far that might allow Iran to stop enrichment within the country but maintain a supply of uranium could be a consortium in the Mideast backed by regional countries and the US.

There are also multiple countries offering low-enriched uranium that can be used for peaceful purposes by countries.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
 Iran’s Foreign Ministry has maintained that enrichment must continue within the country’s borders, and a similar fuel-swap proposal failed to gain traction in negotiations in 2010.
Related:
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Israel said readying to quickly strike Iranian nuclear sites if US-Iran talks collapse
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Israel, Turkey said to agree to prevent clashes in Syria, establish hotline
Negotiations 05/22/2025 Columbia U president backs international students amid protests at commencement

Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Denying US and Israel are planning a strike, Trump says he wants a deal with Iran
2025-02-06
[IsraelTimes] US president urges that work on new nuclear pact start ‘immediately’; Iranian FM insists administration’s restoration of ‘maximum pressure’ policy ‘will turn into another failure’

US President Donald Trump
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
 on Wednesday denied the United States and Israel plan to carry out a military strike on Iran, instead saying he wants to make a new nuclear deal with Tehran and that work on the pact should start immediately.

"I want Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED," Trump wrote, apparently in the middle of the night, on his Truth Social platform. It was unclear which reports he was referring to.

"I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper," he wrote. "We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!"

The post echoed comments he made during a joint presser the day before with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the two of them are committed to ensuring Tehran never has a nuclear weapon.

On Tuesday, Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, including efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero, in an effort to stop the Islamic Theocratic Republic from developing an atomic bomb.

The move brought back the tough US policy on Iran that Trump implemented throughout his first term.

Trump took exception to the idea that Iran is currently weak when it was suggested during his presser with Netanyahu.

"They’re not weak. They’re very strong right now, and we’re not going to allow them to have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "It’s very simple."

"I signed a very strong proclamation," he said. "Doesn’t mean they won’t be weak [in the future]."

’A FAILED EXPERIMENT’
Responding, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Wednesday that the reimposition of a policy of heavy pressure against Iran will end in "failure" as it did when Trump was previously in office.

"I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure," Araghchi told news hounds following a cabinet meeting, while again claiming that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.

As part of the "maximum pressure" policy during his first term that ended in 2021, Trump withdrew the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and major powers and reimposed biting sanctions.

The deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

Tehran adhered to the deal until a year after Washington pulled out but then began rolling back its commitments. Efforts to revive the 2015 deal have since faltered.

"If the main issue is that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, it is achievable and is not much of a problem," Araghchi said, repeating the claim — derided by Western powers — that Tehran’s program is solely civilian.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also downplayed the impact of sanctions on Iran.

"America threatens new sanctions, but Iran is a powerful and resource-rich country that can navigate challenges by managing its resources," Pezeshkian said in a televised ceremony.

However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
 a senior Iranian official told Rooters that "the holy manal establishment’s will is to give diplomacy with Trump another chance, but Tehran is deeply concerned about Israel’s sabotage."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tehran wanted the United States to "rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal" with the Islamic Theocratic RepublicOn Wednesday, Iran’s nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami insisted that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying "Iran does not have, and will not have a nuclear weapons program."

But with its regional allies either dismantled or gravely weakened since the start of the Hamas
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
-Israel war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 in October 2023, and mounting discontent among many Iranians at the state of the economy, analysts say the holy manal establishment has few options other than to strike a deal with Trump.

The fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
 in Syria in December, a crucial ally of Tehran, has severely disrupted Tehran’s "Axis of Resistance®," a network of regional gangs, terror proxies and allied states, with which Iran counters Israel and the United States while asserting its influence throughout the Middle East.

The Iranian official also said Tehran disagreed with "any displacement of Gazooks, but Iran-US talks are a separate matter," referring to Trump’s remarks that the US would take over war-ravaged Gaza and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Paleostinians elsewhere.

"Iran does not agree with any displacement of Paleostinians and has communicated this through various channels. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
 this issue and the path of Iran’s nuclear agreement are two separate matters and should be pursued separately," the official said.

War in Gaza erupted on October 7, 2023, when the Paleostinian terror group Hamas led thousands of hard boyz in a devastating attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Terrorists also kidnapped 251 people who were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip. The following day, Iran-backed Lebanese terror group began attacking across Israel’s northern border and the fighting escalated into open war by September the following year. Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and depleted its fighting abilities before the two sides reached a mediated ceasefire at the end of November.

A ceasefire in the Gaza war, which began in January and includes the release of hostages, is in the midst of the first of its three phases, though the remaining two stages have yet to be negotiated and agreed on.
I'd really like a few things cleared up to solidify my knowledge base.

  • Could anybody hum the first few bars of the Paleostinian national anthem?
  • Who was the first king/potentate/president/prime minister of Paleostine?
  • Approximately when did he reign?
  • By which feats (or feets) of engineering did the indigenous Arabs who have been peacefully practicing Islam there since at least the time of the Natufians, manage to move the intrusive Hebrew temple under their second or whatever most holy mosque?


    • Gimme a little time and I'll think of a few more.
    Link


    Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
    The Truth About Ukraine's Decision to Give Up Its Nukes in the '90s
    2024-01-29
    [Yahoo] Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many politicians and commentators have rued the day, back in January 1994, when Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin pressured Ukraine to dismantle its nuclear weapons. The missiles had once been controlled by the Soviet Union but were still on the soil of the newly independent Ukrainian nation. If Ukraine had held on to those nukes, some argue, Vladimir Putin might have been deterred from annexing Crimea in 2014 or invading the whole country in 2022.

    In moments of pique, even Ukraine’s current president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and some of his top aides have argued that their predecessors shouldn’t have given up the nukes for that reason.

    However, recently declassified documents—published Thursday by the National Security Archive, a private research group, which obtained them through a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act—reveal that the argument is nonsense.

    The documents—transcripts of conversations involving Clinton, Yeltsin, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk, at a historic summit on broad post–Cold War relations, held in Moscow and Kyiv exactly 30 years ago—clearly reveal these facts:

    • Ukraine lacked the resources to maintain the nearly 1,700 Soviet nuclear weapons on its soil, many of them on intercontinental ballistic missiles that were nearing the end of their service lives. (My own reporting from several years ago, not reflected in these documents, indicates that Moscow retained command and control over the ICBMs, though Ukrainian officers could have fired the shorter-range nuclear missiles on their soil.)

    • Kravchuk and almost all Ukrainian politicians were eager to dispose of the weapons, fearing that their nuclear cores might melt down in a manner reminiscent of the Chernobyl power-plant disaster, which had occurred in Ukraine just eight years earlier. Everyone involved—the presidents, the diplomats who spent months negotiating the precise terms, and British officials, who later signed the deal as well—viewed it as mainly a measure to promote nuclear safety and nonproliferation. The U.S. Senate had recently passed a bill—named for its sponsors, Democrat Sam Nunn and Republican Richard Lugar—to pay for the cleanup and dismantlement of nuclear weapons throughout the former Soviet Union. (The deal signed in January 1994 provided “a minimum” of $175 million to Ukraine for this purpose.) Also, the U.S. and Russia were negotiating the SALT II arms-control treaty, which would require the elimination of the SS-19 and SS-24 ICBMs inside Ukraine.

    • Finally, Yeltsin forgave Ukraine mountains of debt for oil and gas that Russia had supplied, and Clinton promised to persuade the International Monetary Fund and the G7 nations to pay Ukraine’s energy imports into the future. At a meeting with Clinton, according to a memorandum of their conversation, Kravchuk said, “When we have stabilization of our currency and private investment for Ukraine, then everyone will understand that the agreement signed by the three presidents [to remove nuclear weapons from Ukraine] was the only possible step.” At a meeting with both Clinton and Yeltsin two days later, Kravchuk said, “There is no alternative to nuclear disarmament.”

    The U.S.-Russia-Ukraine accord—which one of Clinton’s top aides called “the crowning achievement of the summit”—can be looked back at as a betrayal of Kyiv in one sense. Clinton and Yeltsin did promise Ukraine “full guarantees of security, as a sign of friendship and good neighborliness.” The two leaders also reaffirmed “the obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” including Ukraine.

    Later that year, at a conference in Budapest, the U.S., Russia, and Britain formalized those security assurances to Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan (the latter two former Soviet republics had also given up the nuclear weapons on their territory), in exchange for their signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

    Putin clearly violated this pledge when he annexed Crimea 20 years later, in 2014, and then invaded all of Ukraine eight years hence. The U.S. and Britain, while not legally obligated to come to Ukraine’s aid (other than to seek immediate assistance from the U.N. Security Council, as the Budapest Memorandum required), didn’t raise a huge stink about the incursions either. A case could be made that the relative passivity encouraged Putin to mount his all-out invasion, believing—incorrectly, it turned out—that the West would do little to stop him.

    Still, it is false to contend that Ukraine would not have given up the nuclear weapons on its soil had Kravchuk or any other leader at the time known that Russia would violate its guarantee of Ukrainian borders. That pledge, though important, was more a bonus than an essential element of the accord. The nukes in Ukraine (and Belarus and Kazakhstan) were going to be removed, with the host leaders’ permission and blessing, regardless of what else was said or done.
    Link


    Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
    Ukrainian Perspective: Invasion of Ukraine: March 28th, 2023
    2023-03-29
    Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
    [Korrespondent] 22:57 Russian propagandists launched a new fake online: they released a video in which allegedly "Ukrainian military" stopped a civilian car and began to offend a woman with a child. The fake was picked up even by the Russian Foreign Ministry, despite the fact that even the Kremlin military correspondents have already managed to debunk it. More details - in the material The shooting of the car .

    22:34 As of March 28, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have destroyed more than 1,500 drones of the Orlan-10 operational-tactical level at the front, not counting quadrocopters and tactical-level UAVs, Yuri Ignat, spokesman for the Air Force Command, said. He also noted that the grouping of enemy aircraft, which attacks Ukraine from several dozen airfields, has increased quantitatively, but has become much worse in quality.

    22:20 The Institute for the Study of War in a new report analyzes the actions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and predicts the course of hostilities in Ukraine. More details - in the material There are no hopes for the world .

    21:59 Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin believes that Ukraine, thanks to the significant depletion of Russian forces and the supply of Western weapons, has a "very good chance" of a successful counteroffensive in the spring of 2023. In his opinion, Ukraine has a "significant advantage" in comparison with Russian forces, although the front line has changed from one side to the other in recent times.

    "The Ukrainians inflicted significant losses on the Russians, and they depleted their stocks of armored vehicles in a way that no one could ever imagine. And now we see how Russia will re-mothball the T-54 and T-55 tanks due to the level of losses that the Ukrainians inflicted," - said the US Secretary of Defense. He added that Russia's resources are running out, it is increasingly lacking artillery ammunition and is forced to turn to Iran and North Korea for help.

    “Therefore, I think that we will see an increase in hostilities in the spring, as the conditions for maneuvering improve, and also based on what we have already done and continue to do. I think that Ukraine will have a very good chance of success,” Austin emphasized. .

    21:41 At least 2,000 Russian officers died in the war in Ukraine, the KIU OSINT project calculated on March 28 according to open data.

    20:44 British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that China's recent actions regarding the war in Ukraine undermined its status as a neutral side, and called on Beijing to take constructive steps.

    20:26 The United States stops the exchange of data on strategic nuclear forces with Russia after Moscow announced the suspension of participation in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, writes WSJ.

    20:13 Peskov in December 2022, during a meeting with one of the Russian officials, where representatives of the cultural and political elite were present, said that the war against Ukraine would continue for a very long time, writes The Guardian. According to the publication, the guests raised a toast to the establishment of peace, after which Peskov said: "Everything will be much more complicated. It will take a very long time." This spoiled the mood of the guests, who spoke in private conversations against the war with Ukraine, the sources of the publication shared.

    19:24 The National Resistance Center under the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has compiled a map of the camps where the Russians are taking deported Ukrainian children. The map was created on the basis of data from open sources and will be supplemented. As can be seen from the geography of the camps, the process of taking children to the Russian Federation is systematic and prepared in advance.

    18:56 The first three strike companies of the UAV are already ready for battle - they have been fully equipped, pickup trucks, shock copters and Starlinks have been handed over, Mikhail Fedorov, head of the Ministry of Digital Development, said. He stressed that all the drones are Ukrainian-made, and the equipment for the shock companies of the Drone Army was purchased by private donors.

    18:32 Due to the incident in the Black Sea with the downing of an American drone in early March, the United States decided to send reconnaissance drones further from Crimea, which limited their ability to collect information, CNN reports, citing a US senior official. The decision to bypass the area of ​​potential collision with Russian aircraft, according to a CNN source, is part of the Biden administration's efforts to "avoid excessive provocation" between Washington and Moscow. At the same time, the official did not rule out that reconnaissance flights of drones will resume in the usual mode in the future.

    18:10 According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the settlements of Belogorovka, Bakhmut, Avdeevka, Maryinka and their environs remain at the epicenter of hostilities. During the day, units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine repelled 24 enemy attacks in the indicated directions.

    17:44 In the next six months, the Ukrainian energy system will have enough electricity to cover the needs of consumers, Volodymyr Kudrytsky, chairman of the board of NPC Ukrenergo, predicts. At the same time, he added that "it is necessary to prepare well for the next winter: to resume, first of all, the operation of those power units at thermal and hydroelectric power plants that were damaged, and to mobilize all the resources of the energy system to the maximum in order to pass the winter with dignity, without blackouts."

    17:40 The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee recommended that international federations allow Russians who do not support the war against Ukraine to start as neutral athletes, said IOC head Thomas Bach. At the same time, teams from Russia and Belarus cannot be considered as participants in international competitions.

    The IOC also recommended not to allow Russian athletes associated with the armed forces and security agencies to participate in the competition. In particular, among the Russian athletes, many are listed in the CSKA sports society, some represent the National Guard.

    Bach said that the decision on the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games will be made by sports federations. The IOC Executive Committee recommended that international federations create separate commissions on the issue of admitting Russian athletes to competitions.

    17:34 Propaganda Russian media write with reference to emergency services that near the railway tracks near the village of Svitino in New Moscow, they found "wreckage, presumably of a drone." According to them, there is no damage at the site of the discovery of the wreckage. Meanwhile, the telegram channel Baza reports that the drone had the inscription "Glory to Ukraine" and publishes a photo.

    17:07 Zelensky held a coordination meeting in Sumy with the leaders of the armed formations and law enforcement agencies on the arrangement and protection of the state border and the security situation in the Sumy region.

    17:00 In Poland, three more suspected of collaborating with Russian special services have been detained. The Polish Cabinet reported that they were charged with espionage activities, all of them are in custody.

    16:55 Under Melitopol, according to preliminary data, a substation was blown up near the village of Fedorovka of the Terpinovsky village council, Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov said.

    16:52 In Mariupol, a total cleansing and search activities after yesterday's explosion of the car of "the head of the city police department" Mikhail Moskvin. According to the adviser to the mayor of the city, Petr Andryushchenko, there are patrols of military occupiers and "policemen" on the streets. Mostly men are stopped regardless of age and women under the age of 40. They check documents, gadgets, personal belongings.

    Moskvin himself was hospitalized with a shell shock after the explosion of his car, but today he was taken by helicopter from Mariupol to Taganrog. His condition is unknown, "but definitely far from stable-good," Andryushchenko added.

    16:41 Blinken called proposals for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine a "cynical trap" to freeze the conflict.

    16:26 Zelensky said that in the Sumy region he got acquainted with the service of border guards to cover the borders of the state. The President checked the fulfillment of tasks by the units of the State Border Service on the border with Russia.

    15:42 The Ukrainian military showed that inside the downed Iranian drones.

    15:03 In Bakhmut, Russia is reinforcing the PMC Wagner mercenaries with units of its regular army, primarily paratroopers, said Sergey Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “The main striking force remains PMC Wagner. However, due to huge daily losses and due to the fact that they can no longer replenish their ranks as quickly as before, including at the expense of former prisoners, we see that they are being reinforced by regular army units, primarily airborne troops. Cherevaty added that the Wagnerites have problems with ammunition and manpower.

    14:54 The “Supreme Court of the DPR” sentenced a serviceman of the Azov Battalion, Dmitry Smitiy, to 20 years in a strict regime colony for allegedly shooting a resident of Mariupol.

    14:25 The European Union at the summit in December will consider the issue of starting negotiations on the accession to the EU of Ukraine and Moldova, said the head of the European Council Charles Michel.

    14:23 Zelensky is on a working trip to the Sumy region today. In particular, he presented Akhtyrka with "an honorary distinction of a hero city, a city-defender, a city-winner."

    13:46 In Bakhmut, the number of military clashes has decreased over the past three days - it is possible that the Russians are regrouping, said Sergey Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to him, "the coming days - a week will show what is the cause in reality."

    13:17 The Russians fired two missiles, previously S-300, at the city of Bogodukhov, Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA, said. Previously, no casualties.

    13:14 France will double the supply of 155-mm artillery ammunition for Ukraine - up to 2000 per month, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said. He also said that the SAMP-T air defense system will arrive in Ukraine "in the near future." In addition, the French government is considering the possibility of increasing funding for the EU fund to help Ukraine. According to the minister, the 200 million euro allocated by Paris has already been fully used.

    13:01 Ukraine received three Leopard 2A6 tanks from Portugal, the country's Ministry of Defense reported.

    12:45 The order to bombard the Drama Theater in Mariupol, as well as the maternity hospital and the children's hospital was given by the commander of the military unit, Serhiy Atroshchenko, investigators of the InformNapalm international community found out. He was born in Ovruch, Zhytomyr region.

    12:14 The US State Department supports the creation of a special tribunal to investigate the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, said Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Skaak. At the same time, she added that there was not yet a final consensus on the model for such a tribunal. Thus, two models are being considered: a Ukrainian tribunal, which will have international support, and a court that the UN General Assembly can create. The Ukrainian authorities want to create a separate international institution, but there are fears that it will not be possible to collect the necessary votes in the General Assembly for its creation, the ambassador said.

    According to her, the United States came to the conclusion that the most effective way to ensure accountability for crimes of aggression involves the creation of an internationalized court within the Ukrainian judicial system, that is, a hybrid option. Such a court could generate greater international support, and would not require a General Assembly resolution to establish a new independent international institution, which would take time and resources.

    11:32 Zelensky may visit Poland soon, but even when an agreement is reached, the visit will not be reported until the last moment for security reasons, said Deputy Polish Foreign Minister Pavel Yablonsky. He added that the leaders of Poland and Ukraine are actively maintaining contact.

    10:47 The Russians fired mortars at a hospital in the Dnipro district of Kherson at night, the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin, said. The main building and the heating system were damaged, there were no casualties.

    10:21 The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said that the deployment of nuclear warheads on the territory of the country without transferring control over them to Minsk would not contradict the provisions of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

    10:15 Motor Sich President Vyacheslav Boguslaev blocked the delivery of a combat helicopter for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense in April 2022 in favor of Russia, the SBU reported. According to the investigation, he received an order from representatives of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense for the transfer of a MI-2 helicopter to the department for a fee to carry out combat missions at the front. However, Boguslaev instructed his subordinates to disassemble the aircraft into parts and hide the operational documentation for it.

    09:46 Reznikov showed a video with British Challenger 2 tanks that arrived in Ukraine.

    09:23 British intelligence reports that in recent days Russia continues to prioritize the operation to encircle Avdiivka, but has made little progress at the cost of heavy losses in armored vehicles. Analysts estimate that the 10th Tank Regiment probably lost most of its tanks trying to encircle Avdiivka from the south. The regiment is part of the 3rd Army Corps, the first major new formation that Russia sent to Ukraine in August 2022.

    Despite training in Belarus, the 3rd Army Corps still demonstrates limited combat capability, intelligence notes. The losses of the 10th Panzer Regiment were probably mainly due to tactically erroneous frontal attacks. There were similar losses in other unsuccessful attacks by Russian armored vehicles, for example, in the Ugledar region.

    09:12 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) suggests that the Russian military leadership involved a certain number of highly trained Wagner PMC units in the attack on Avdiivka in order to consolidate recent limited tactical successes in the area.

    Also, ISW drew attention to rumors about the resignation of the commander of the Eastern Military District of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Rustam Muradov, as well as the possible dismissal of the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov, whose troops are operating along the line Kupyansk - Svatovo - Kremennaya. Analysts cannot confirm these rumors, but note that potential dismissals of commanders are related to areas of operations in which Russian troops have failed to make significant progress or have suffered significant losses. At the same time, the Russian authorities and bloggers focused on finding and punishing individual commanders, and not on investigating and solving systemic problems in the army.

    08:59 In the Kherson region over the past day, as a result of Russian shelling, five people were injured, the OVA reported.

    08:46 The Russians launched an airstrike with a guided aerial bomb on Belopolye, Sumy region, one person was injured, the President's Office reported.

    08:35 The General Staff announced the approximate losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of March 28.

    • personnel - about 171,730 (+570) people liquidated,

    • tanks - 3602 (+7),

    • armored combat vehicles - 6966 (+13),

    • artillery systems - 2653 (+15),

    • MLRS - 525 (+2),

    • air defense systems - 277 (+0),

    • aircraft - 305 (+0),

    • helicopters - 291 (+0),

    • UAV operational-tactical level - 2235 (+19),

    • cruise missiles - 911 (+0),

    • ships/boats - 18 (+0),

    • automotive equipment and tankers - 5502 (+9),

    • special equipment - 287 (+2).

    08:11 According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, at night the Russians used 15 attack UAVs of the Shahed type, 14 of which were destroyed.

    The army of the Russian Federation is concentrating its main efforts on conducting offensive operations in the Limansky, Bakhmutsky, Avdeevsky and Maryinsky directions. The fiercest battles go for Bakhmut, Avdeevka and Maryinka. Over the past day, units of the Defense Forces repulsed 62 enemy attacks in the indicated directions.

    The Russians have recently introduced more and more restrictions on the free movement of Ukrainian citizens between settlements in the occupied territories. In particular, in the Gorlovsky district of the Donetsk region, as well as in the Kakhovsky district of the Kherson region, it is impossible to get into individual settlements without local registration.

    07:38 In the Dnipropetrovsk region, two enemy drones were shot down by air defense forces at night, another one hit a private enterprise in the Dnieper. There was a strong fire on the area of ​​4000 sq. m, said the head of the OVA Sergey Lysak. The fire has already been extinguished and no one was hurt.

    07:05 At night, 12 Shahed-type enemy kamikaze drones were detected and destroyed by air defense forces in the airspace of Kiev, Sergey Popko, head of the KGVA, said.

    02:17 Germany and the Netherlands will continue to provide humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine, supply weapons and train the military, as well as take care of compliance with anti-Russian sanctions, a joint statement says following the results of government consultations between the two countries.

    02:14 The Russians attacked Ukraine with Shahed-136/131 strike drones and guided aerial bombs. According to the command of the Air Force, 12 Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs and one reconnaissance drone Granat-4 were destroyed. In total, the enemy used 13 kamikaze drones, one reconnaissance UAV Granat-4 and two guided bombs.

    The attack of "shaheeds" was carried out from the northern and south-eastern directions. Su-35 fighters took off from the Morozovsk airfield in the Rostov region and attacked the Kherson region with two guided aerial bombs.

    01:02 In the Svyatoshinsky district of Kiev, as a result of the fall of the wreckage of a downed kamikaze drone, a fire broke out in the store, people were not injured, the city authorities said.

    00:10 Since March 27, the military command has transferred Avdiivka, Donetsk region, to the red zone. The city is closed to entry. This also applies to accredited journalists and volunteers. Read more about the situation in the city in the material Avdiivka in the red zone .

    Link


    International-UN-NGOs
    German foreign minister confident deal to save JCPOA reachable ‘in coming weeks’
    2021-07-06
    [IsraelTimes] Following Stockholm Initiative meeting in Madrid, member countries renew appeal to all nuclear powers to promote disarmament by adopting significant measures to comply with NPT.

    German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Monday he was confident of reaching a deal to save the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran
    ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
    "in the coming weeks."

    "We think (the talks) can reach their goal," he told news hounds in Madrid after a gathering of the Stockholm Initiative, a group of 16 states working towards nuclear disarmament.

    "I think we’ll get there in the coming weeks," Maas added of the Iran talks that resumed in April in Vienna.

    The negotiations aim to save the deal — known to diplomats as the JCPOA — between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council member states plus Germany.

    Under the Trump administration, the US walked away from the accords designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

    Following the Stockholm Initiative meeting in Madrid, member countries "renewed their appeal to all states possessing nuclear weapons... to promote disarmament by adopting significant measures" to comply with the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), they said in a statement.

    Stockholm member states’ foreign ministers were meeting ahead of the next Review Conference on the NPT, which has been delayed until early next year due to the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
    ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
     pandemic, Spain’s foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said.

    The initiative’s members include current co-chairs Germany, Spain and Sweden as well as Argentina
    ...a country located on the other side of the Deep South. It is covered with Pampers and inhabited by Grouchos, who dance the Tangle. They used to have some islands called the Malvinas located where the Falklands are now. They're not supposed to cry for Evita...
    , Canada, South Korea, Æthiopia, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Switzerland
    ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
    Related:
    JCPOA: 2021-07-01 Iran conditions return to nuclear deal on US commitment to never withdraw again
    JCPOA: 2021-06-12 US lifts some Iranian sanctions as nuclear talks resume
    JCPOA: 2021-05-29 US Lawmakers Pressure Biden to Enforce Sanctions on Assad
    Link



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