Iran reopens uranium plant after 9 years to step up enrichment
Iran on Wednesday reopened a nuclear enrichment plant that has been inactive since 2009, as Tehran geared up to bolster its enrichment activities should the 2015 nuclear deal collapse.
nuclear
Trump’s Iran strategy targets oil, presses allies to end oil imports by Nov. 4
Following through on President Trump’s promise to squeeze Iran as he took the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal, the Trump administration on Tuesday announced details on new sanctions that will pressure countries from Europe to Asia to slash imports of Iranian oil to zero by Nov. 4, giving allies no wiggle room to deal with Tehran.
N. Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Ends Two-Day Trip to China
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will return to Pyongyang Wednesday after a two-day visit to China, the chief economic and diplomatic ally of his impoverished regime.
Iran says Europe’s proposals not enough to save nuclear deal: IRNA
Iran’s nuclear chief said on Tuesday that Europe’s proposals to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal after the U.S. withdrawal from the pact were not satisfying for Tehran, warning that all sides would lose if Iran is sidelined by the West, the IRNA state news agency said.
North Korea’s Kim visit Beijing; South Korea, U.S. halt military drill
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, where he will likely brief Chinese President Xi Jinping on his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last week, as Washington and Seoul agreed to suspend a major joint military exercise.
Classified Israeli report raises doubts over Trump-Kim summit
A classified report from Israel’s foreign ministry raises doubts over President Trump’s optimistic statements about his summit with Kim Jong-un, and determines the U.S. retreated from its positions on several issues relating to North Korea’s nuclear program.
North, South Korea slated to hold military talks for first time in 10 years: Report
North and South Korea are slated to engage in high-level military talks on Thursday for the first time in more than 10 years, a new report states.
Pompeo clears the air: No sanctions relief for North Korea until ‘complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization’
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a press conference with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts Thursday morning in Singapore to elaborate on the post Trump-Kim summit strategy for denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Putin and Rouhani meet in China, discuss joint efforts in Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met in China on Saturday during a weekend summit of the Chinese- and Russian-led security bloc.
At Trump-Kim summit, human rights is a back-burner issue
President Donald Trump said it himself to Congress and the American people: ‘No regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea.’
Trump, Kim sign ‘comprehensive’ joint document as historic summit nears end
Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un signed a ‘comprehensive’ joint document at the end of their historic summit in Singapore on Tuesday.
Iran’s Rouhani criticizes U.S. ‘unilateralism’ over nuclear deal
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized U.S. ‘unliteralism’ in withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and said on Sunday he appreciated efforts by China and Russia to maintain the agreement.
Iran won’t cooperate fully with nuke inspectors until deal impasse resolved
Iran on Wednesday upped the ante in its standoff with the United States and European powers over the 2015 nuclear deal from which the Trump administration withdrew last month, with its United Nations envoy warning it would not cooperate fully with nuclear inspectors until the future of the deal was resolved.
U.S. Warns Iran After It Moves To Step Up Uranium-Enrichment Capacity
The United States warned that Washington will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons after Iran announced plans to increase its uranium-enrichment capacity.
Iran opens new nuclear facility for centrifuge production
Iran’s nuclear chief on Wednesday inaugurated the Islamic Republic’s new nuclear enrichment facility that is geared toward producing centrifuges which will operate within the limits of the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers.
Report: Secret Obama-Era License Gave Iran Access to US Financial System
The Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access – albeit briefly – to the U.S. financial system by sidestepping sanctions kept in place after the 2015 nuclear deal, despite repeatedly telling Congress and the public it had no plans to do so.
Europe seeks U.S. sanction exemptions for its firms in Iran
European signatories to a nuclear deal with Iran have written to top U.S. officials to stress their commitment to upholding the pact, which Washington has quit, and to urge the United States to spare EU firms active in Iran from secondary sanctions.
Israel shares key files from Iran nuclear archives with EU allies
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to travel to Europe this week in a bid to rally support from key allies for amending the international nuclear deal with Iran and for pushing Iranian forces out of Syria.
Merkel: Germany will exert its influence to push Iran out of Syria
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Angela Merkel emerged from their 90-minute meeting in Berlin on Monday still disagreeing about the merits of the Iranian nuclear agreement, but in accord about the need to push Iran out of other countries in the Middle East.
Khamenei says Iran set to boost enrichment capacity if nuclear deal founders
Iran’s top leader said on Monday he had ordered preparations to increase uranium enrichment capacity if a nuclear deal with world powers falls apart after the U.S. withdrawal, and he vowed never to accept limits on Tehran’s ballistic missile program.