Uranium enrichment equipment at the Natanz centre, about 300 kilometres south of Tehran. The UN nuclear watchdog has said it still wants Iran to explain the presence of nuclear material discovered at undeclared sites. AFP
Uranium enrichment equipment at the Natanz centre, about 300 kilometres south of Tehran. The UN nuclear watchdog has said it still wants Iran to explain the presence of nuclear material discovered at undeclared sites. AFP
Uranium enrichment equipment at the Natanz centre, about 300 kilometres south of Tehran. The UN nuclear watchdog has said it still wants Iran to explain the presence of nuclear material discovered at undeclared sites. AFP
Uranium enrichment equipment at the Natanz centre, about 300 kilometres south of Tehran. The UN nuclear watchdog has said it still wants Iran to explain the presence of nuclear material discovered at

Iran threatens to respond to IAEA 'unconstructive actions'


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Iran said on Wednesday it would respond to any "unconstructive actions" taken by the UN atomic watchdog after the agency reported traces of nuclear material at undeclared sites in the Islamic republic.

Iran and the UN agency agreed in March on an approach to resolve the issue of the nuclear material found at Marivan, Varamin and Turquzabad ― sites that had not been declared by Tehran as having hosted nuclear activities.

But in a report on Monday the International Atomic Energy Agency said it still had questions, which were "not clarified" despite long-running efforts to get Iran to explain the presence of the nuclear material.

The IAEA board of governors is to hold a meeting on Monday for which Britain, France, Germany and the US have prepared a draft resolution "calling on Iran to co-operate on the question of undeclared sites", a European diplomatic source said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh briefs reporters in Tehran, on Tuesday. AFP
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh briefs reporters in Tehran, on Tuesday. AFP

"We will respond firmly and appropriately to any unconstructive action at the board of governors," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

"The responsibility for its consequences falls on the shoulders of those who see the board of governors and the director general's report as leverage and a tool of political games against Iran," he added.

The issue is one of the remaining obstacles to reviving a 2015 deal that gave Iran relief from sanctions in return for guarantees that the Islamic republic is unable to develop a nuclear weapon ― something it has always denied intending to do.

The agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was torpedoed in 2018 by the administration of then US president Donald Trump, which withdrew unilaterally and imposed sanctions on Iran.

In a tweet on Wednesday evening, Mr Khatibzadeh said Israel, the Islamic republic's arch foe which strongly opposes the nuclear deal, was the "only nuke-possessor of the Mena region".

"Time for E3/US to stop pretending to be asleep," he said, referring to the three European nations and the US.

"They can pursue diplomacy ― or pursue the opposite. We're ready for both," he added.

Tehran has condemned the UN watchdog's report as "not fair and balanced", saying it "does not reflect the reality of the negotiations between Iran and the IAEA."

France had called on Iran to respond "promptly" to the IAEA's requests.

"We are consulting closely with our partners on how to respond to this situation at the next board of governors meeting", its foreign ministry said.

Mr Khatibzadeh called on "countries such as France to refrain from taking positions and making interventions that would cause the co-operation to deviate from its proper path."

These statements were aimed at putting "pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran on the eve of the meetings of the IAEA board of governors," he added.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
​​​​​​​two stars

World Cup warm-up fixtures

Friday, May 24:

  • Pakistan v Afghanistan (Bristol)
  • Sri Lanka v South Africa (Cardiff)

Saturday, May 25

  • England v Australia (Southampton)
  • India v New Zealand (The Oval, London)

Sunday, May 26

  • South Africa v West Indies (Bristol)
  • Pakistan v Bangladesh (Cardiff)

Monday, May 27

  • Australia v Sri Lanka (Southampton)
  • England v Afghanistan (The Oval, London)

Tuesday, May 28

  • West Indies v New Zealand (Bristol)
  • Bangladesh v India (Cardiff)
UAE cricketers abroad

Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.

Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.

Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.

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Updated: June 02, 2022, 5:38 AM