Iran

Iran on Friday ignored a deadline for the extension of an agreement on the inspection of Iranian nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).   The chief of the IAEA nuclear watchdog, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has been pushing for the extension for weeks, saying the international community must keep an eye on Iran's nuclear projects as powers work with Iran to revive a 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran had previously indicated that it would only decide on the extension after the existing agreement has expired. Last time, it was not extended again until 24 hours after the agreement expired. The Iranian government may now be using the agreement's expiration in negotiations on the international nuclear deal that Iran needs to untangle its stalled economy. Iran has threat...

Iran has recently enriched ten times as much uranium as allowed in the 2015 agreement with Western powers.   According to the international nuclear agency IAEA, this involved more than 2,100 kilos, while the agreement set a maximum of 202.8 kilos of uranium. Iran feels no longer bound by the agreements in the agreement since the US stepped down in 2018. The contract was concluded with great difficulty at the time. IAEA inspectors, on the other hand, were allowed to visit a site in Iran where past nuclear activities are suspected. The IAEA had been trying for a year to get permission to inspect a total of two sites. These are places near Tehran and Isfahan. They took samples from one of the places that will be analyzed later. The other spot will be reviewed later this month.

Iran reported a record number of deaths from the new coronavirus on Tuesday. Two hundred people succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours.   That is the highest number since last Sunday when 163 deaths were reported. "Unfortunately, we lost two hundred of our compatriots in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of victims of the virus to 11,931," a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health said on state television. Iran has been facing an increase in the number of infections and deaths for several weeks. "The increase in the death toll is very painful for all of us," said the spokeswoman. "It is the result of our behaviour and the actions of all of us." Iran, which reported its first contamination cases and corona deaths in February, is one of the most affected countries wo...

In the Gulf of Oman, 19 missiles were killed in a missile drill by the Iranian Navy. Fifteen other passengers were injured.   The accident happened just off the coast of the Iranian port of Jask on Sunday evening. A missile that was fired from the Jamaran ship did not hit the intended target but hit the Konarak, another ship that was carrying. According to social media reports, the Konarak sank on that. The Iranian Navy reports 19 fatalities and at least 15 injuries. Research has yet to show exactly how the accident could have happened. Perhaps the Konarak was too close to the floating target and was hit by a new type of missile. It is another blot on the face of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the elite corps of the national army. In January, the Revolutionary Guard shot ...