Tehran’s nuclear progress is “alarming” and its stockpile of enriched uranium has grown significantly, a senior US official said on Monday.
The “breakout time” – the time needed to obtain enough uranium enriched for use in weapons – has shrunk from a year to “a few months”, said the senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to AFP.
Iran would then need to complete a number of additional steps, including building a nuclear device small enough to fit onto a ballistic missile, a process known as miniaturisation.
The US official said the US was keen to resume negotiations with Tehran and that Washington still believes diplomacy is the best path forward.
The US and the EU are keen to revive a variation of the 2015-18 “nuclear deal” in which the US relaxed most sanctions on Tehran in exchange for permitting UN inspections of research sites. Iran also agreed to set limits on its nuclear activities and for these to be monitored.
“We’re hopeful we can be back in Vienna [for talks] ... in a fairly short period of time,“ the official said.
On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry said the new round of discussions could start early next month. The comment came just after Iran's foreign minister said Iran expects the US to unfreeze millions of dollars of Iranian assets.
The "ball is in Iran's court", Jennifer Gavito, deputy assistant secretary for Iran and Iraq at the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, told CNBC on Tuesday.
US negotiators were ready to begin talks as soon as Iran gives the go-ahead, Ms Gavito said, clarifying that they've been told the Iranians will resume talks "very soon."
Any talk of lifting sanctions would have to take place within the framework of the Vienna talks, Ms Gavito said. She declined to discuss what sanctions relief the US may have offered the Iranians.
The country’s nuclear activity will be at the centre of talks between US and Israeli national security teams in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Israel’s national security advisor, Eyal Hulata, and his White House counterpart, Jake Sullivan, will join a meeting of the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group, which comprises representatives of both countries’ diplomatic, military and intelligence agencies.
The breakout time, meaning stockpiles of enriched uranium and other ways to look at this, it’s gone from about 12 months down to a period of a few months. So that’s quite alarming
Senior US government official
In 2018, Donald Trump withdrew Washington from international talks with Tehran on uranium enrichment, held in Austria. His successor, Joe Biden, is keen to resolve the stand-off diplomatically.
“The path in Vienna for negotiations does remain open,“ the senior US official said. “The Iranians are sending indications to a number of parties that they are preparing to come back to Vienna and, of course, we will have to see whether they reengage in that process constructively or not.“
Despite Israeli scepticism, the Biden administration believes “very strongly that the diplomatic path remains the best”, the official said.
But he also said the White House and Israel agree that Iran has made rapid advances since Mr Trump quit the international talks.
Tehran says it does not seek nuclear weapons, only an energy industry.
“We have a common assessment of the extent to which Iran’s nuclear programme has dramatically broken out of the box since the previous administration left the Iran nuclear deal,“ the official said.
“The breakout time, meaning stockpiles of enriched uranium and other ways to look at this, it’s gone from about 12 months down to a period of a few months. So, obviously, that’s quite alarming.”
The official said the US believes diplomacy will be “the best way to put a ceiling on the programme and roll back the gains that Iran has made in recent years“. But there is no movement to lifting sanctions and if diplomacy doesn’t work, “there are other avenues“.
“We think the onus right now is on the Iranian side,“ the official said.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group H
Manchester United v Young Boys, Tuesday, midnight (UAE)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The cost of Covid testing around the world
Egypt
Dh514 for citizens; Dh865 for tourists
Information can be found through VFS Global.
Jordan
Dh212
Centres include the Speciality Hospital, which now offers drive-through testing.
Cambodia
Dh478
Travel tests are managed by the Ministry of Health and National Institute of Public Health.
Zanzibar
AED 295
Zanzibar Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, located within the Lumumba Secondary School compound.
Abu Dhabi
Dh85
Abu Dhabi’s Seha has test centres throughout the UAE.
UK
From Dh400
Heathrow Airport now offers drive through and clinic-based testing, starting from Dh400 and up to Dh500 for the PCR test.
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.0-litre%20turbocharged%204-cyl%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E300bhp%20(GT)%20330bhp%20(Modena)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E450Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh299%2C000%20(GT)%2C%20Dh369%2C000%20(Modena)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Zayed Sustainability Prize
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Hoffenheim (11.30pm)
Saturday
Hertha Berlin v RB Leipzig (6.30pm)
Schalke v Fortuna Dusseldof (6.30pm)
Mainz v Union Berlin (6.30pm)
Paderborn v Augsburg (6.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (9.30pm)
Sunday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen (4.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (9on)
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Results
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Turf) 2,410m, Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m, Winner: Secret Protector, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
