U.S. Unseals Charges Against Five Alleged CJNG Leaders, Raises Reward for New Cartel Chief 
Ukraine Agrees to Protect Kazakhstan Oil Exports via Black Sea 
US Expands Social Media Vetting to Foreign Journalists Seeking Visas 
US-Backed Venezuela Government, Opposition Talks Begin 
Taiwan President Lai Oversees Coastal Strike Drills in Han Kuang War Games 
Germany Warns of Daily Hybrid Warfare Threats 
Russia Intensifies Drone and Bomb Attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, Deepening Civilian Fear 
US Expects Iran-Oman Hormuz Shipping Deal Soon 
Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan Democratic Senate Primary, Sets Up Key Midterm Showdown 
Canada, US Hold Constructive Trade Talks as Tariff Negotiations Continue 
Trump Faces Tough Choices as Iran War Drags On 
Bezalel Smotrich Faces Election Battle as Israel’s Far-Right Vote Fractures 
Trump Administration Plans $1 Billion Security Aid Package for Colombia 
North Korea May Deploy 120 Missiles to Russia 
New Zealand MMP Electoral System Faces Fresh Referendum Debate 
Joe Biden’s Prostate Cancer Has Spread Further, Hunter Biden Says 
SEC Moves to Dismiss Insider Trading Case Against Trump-Pardoned Terren Peizer 
Iran and the West are close to coming to an agreement that would restore the 2015 nuclear deal after months of negotiations. Tehran this week decided to dismantle monitoring cameras put in place by the UN’s nuclear watchdog when the US and other European countries called for its censure.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran turned off the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Online Enrichment Monitor and flowmeter system in a nuclear facility, it said Wednesday. The move follows the move by the US and its allies in Europe to submit a resolution to censure Iran over concerns that Tehran was not cooperating with the watchdog.
The AEOI said in a statement that all the monitoring systems that it dismantled were put in place voluntarily and were beyond the framework of the safeguards agreement with the IAEA. The AEOI added that over 80 percent of the existing IAEA cameras were covered by the agreement and would remain in place and running.
“Unfortunately, without considering that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s cooperation has been out of goodwill, the agency has not only not been grateful for it, but has also in a way considered it Iran’s duty,” the AEOI said in the statement, adding that IAEA was informed of the move that was implemented Wednesday.
The US and its European allies expressed concerns over Iran’s developments in its nuclear program and its failure to cooperate, according to the two reports of the IAEA that were released last week.
They cited Iran’s possession of 60 percent enriched uranium along with deploying 2000 advanced centrifuges and expanded research and development as a cause of concern.
Iran and its nuclear officials have previously questioned the impartiality of the UN watchdog and whether the global nuclear organization has been politically compromised. In an interview with Al Jazeera Monday, AEOI chief Mohammad Eslami said the IAEA must put an end to “infiltration by Iran’s enemies” in its operations.
Eslami cited the organization’s confidential reports getting leaked to the media before the actual recipients of the reports receive them. Eslami added that Iran has provided the answers to the questions of the organization but that the IAEA does not have the “will” that is needed to declare Tehran’s answers as appropriate.
