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Naval forces from China, Iran and Russia all countries at varying degrees of odds with the United States are staging joint drills in the Gulf of Oman this week, China's Defence Ministry has announced. Other countries are also taking part in the Security Bond-2023 exercises, the ministry said Tuesday without giving details. Iran, Pakistan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates all have coastline along the waterbody lying at the mouth of the strategic Persian Gulf. This exercise will help deepen practical cooperation between the participating countries' navies ... and inject positive energy into regional peace and stability, the ministry statement said. The exercises scheduled for Wednesday through Sunday come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China over a range of issues, including China's refusal to criticise Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and continuing support for the Russian economy. The U.S. and its allies have condemned the invasion, imposed punishing economic
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog was meeting with officials in Iran on Saturday, days after it was revealed that the country had enriched particles of uranium to near weapons-grade, raising new alarm over its long-disputed nuclear programme. Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, declined to comment on his discussions during a press conference with the head of Iran's nuclear programme, saying the delegation's work was still ongoing. It's an atmosphere of work, of honesty and cooperation," Grossi said. He was expected to speak with reporters again upon his return to Vienna later on Saturday. Earlier this week, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency reported that uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 per cent just short of weapons-grade were found in Iran's underground Fordo nuclear site. The confidential quarterly report by the IAEA, which was distributed to member states on Tuesday, came as tensions were already high amid months
The previous Donald Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the JCPOA, a crucial agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme, is one of the greatest strategic blunders of US foreign policy in recent years, a top official has said. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, was reached in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 together with the European Union. "This (Joe Biden) administration considers the decision on the part of the last administration to withdraw from the JCPOA, one of the greatest strategic blunders of American foreign policy in recent years," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday. The P5+1 include the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- plus Germany, which during the Barak Obama administration had entered into an agreement with Iran. The reason the .
Iran has begun producing enriched uranium at 60 per cent purity at the country's underground Fordo nuclear plant, official media reported on Tuesday, describing it as a response to a resolution by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. The increased enrichment, reported by the official news agency IRNA, was seen as a significant addition to the country's nuclear programme. Enrichment to 60 per cent purity is one short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent. Nonproliferation experts have warned in recent months that Iran now has enough 60 per cent-enriched uranium to reprocess into fuel for at least one nuclear bomb. Iran is already enriching to 60per cent purity at its Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran. Fordo is some 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of the capital of Tehran. IRNA did not give details on the amount of the enriched uranium being produced. On Monday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, said his country took the steps in reac