For days, the US maintained that the sixth round of its nuclear negotiations with Iran would take place on Thursday, June 12. Officials in Tehran, meanwhile, insisted the correct date was June 15, as Iran’s chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, would be attending an event in Oslo on June 12.
Were it happening in any other context and between any other two countries, this minor scheduling conflict would be a temporary inconvenience. But in these already-fraught talks, too much is on the line and the situation is too combustible.
In an interview on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump accused Iran of delay tactics, and said he was “much less confident of a deal being made”. That evening, based on unspecified threats, Mr Trump’s administration raised alarm with a sudden decision to evacuate non-essential personnel from American embassies and military installations in Iraq, with preparations under way to evacuate more in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Rumours have circulated in US media that the proximate cause is intelligence about Israeli readiness to launch an operation into Iran. Mr Trump raised eyebrows further when he responded to a reporter’s question about the evacuation by saying: “They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place … [Iran] can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Iran’s Defence Minister, Gen Aziz Nasirzadeh, warned in response that “if a conflict is imposed on [Iran] … all US bases are within reach and we will boldly target them in host countries”.
The impasse over the recommencement of the nuclear talks appeared to have been resolved, when the Foreign Minister of Oman – where the talks are set to take place – announced on Thursday that the sixth round would begin on June 15. However, later on Thursday, the UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution formally declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years.
Tehran, which insists it has always adhered to its safeguard obligations, called the decision “completely political and biased”. It added that it was left with “no other choice but to respond” to the resolution, and that it will set up a new enrichment facility.
Regardless of the resolution’s impact on the talks, it is almost certain that the acute climate of fear created by the possibility of strikes – be they Israeli or Iranian – and the ensuing volley of threats will adversely affect the region.
The reward in a deal is that it could be the first step towards a broader arrangement that sees Iran curb its excesses
The Middle East has seen some significant progress away from conflict in recent months, particularly in Syria and Lebanon, but the ongoing wars in Gaza and Yemen leave its people in perpetual fear of how quickly things can escalate. It was only eight months ago that Israel and Iran exchanged direct strikes on each other’s territory – an unprecedented escalation between them.
Amid the fog of continued warfare in the region, talks on Iran’s nuclear programme have taken place largely out of sight, in hotel conference rooms in quiet European and Gulf capitals. The disagreements and delays that have made them so frustrating for their participants often concern the smallest details. But it would be a mistake to think that the stakes are not extraordinarily high.
The cost of diplomatic failure is a continuation – or even worsening – of the instability and insecurity that have rocked large swathes of the region for decades already. But the reward in this deal, if it eventually comes together, is that it could be the first step towards a broader arrangement that sees Iran curb its excesses and take its place as a promoter of stability rather than violence – to the relief, no doubt, of its 90 million citizens, the rest of the region and, indeed, the world.
Four-day collections of TOH
Day Indian Rs (Dh)
Thursday 500.75 million (25.23m)
Friday 280.25m (14.12m)
Saturday 220.75m (11.21m)
Sunday 170.25m (8.58m)
Total 1.19bn (59.15m)
(Figures in millions, approximate)
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.4-litre%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E470bhp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E637Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh375%2C900%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Test squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan(wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah
Twenty20 squad: Babar Azam (captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz
Step by step
2070km to run
38 days
273,600 calories consumed
28kg of fruit
40kg of vegetables
45 pairs of running shoes
1 yoga matt
1 oxygen chamber
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
