Iran's secret nuclear plant exposed



LONDON // Iran has admitted to building a second underground plant to enrich uranium - the process necessary to make a nuclear bomb. The revelation, which comes just days before international talks meant to dissuade Tehran from its nuclear ambitions, means that Iran could be years closer to producing its own nuclear warheads than anyone thought.

President Barack Obama branded Iran's decision to conceal the construction of the facility as a "direct challenge" to global non-proliferation and a threat to peace in the region. Flanked by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy at the opening of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Mr Obama demanded that Iran immediately allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect the plant.

Iran, however, denied it was acting in secrecy. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran had given the IAEA notice about the facility at least a year before it was obliged to do so. Under international regulations, the country only needs to alert the watchdog six months before it introduces nuclear material to the facility. "Instead of six months, we actually informed the agency 18 months ahead of plan. Now is this the right thing to do or the wrong thing? I thought we are supposed to be encouraged for taking this action," Mr Ahmadinejad told reporters.

He also said the West would regret accusing Iran of having a secret site. "They thought they could take the occasion of the UN meeting and the occasion of the people being here in New York to turn sentiment against Iran and failed. They probably thought they had a winning card here and they could kind of make some noise and then start commanding Iran must do this and that. "It's really bad for three heads of state to say something that has no legal foundation."

Iran had acknowledged to the IAEA in a brief letter on Monday that it was constructing a "pilot plant" to enrich uranium but insisted that it was purely for electricity generation purposes. Even then, Tehran was only believed to have admitted that the facility was under construction after government officials learnt a week ago that Mr Obama was to reveal its existence at the Pittsburgh summit. According to a report in The New York Times, the secret facility is being built in a mountainside outside the holy city of Qom, about 130km south-west of Tehran. It will ultimately house 3,000 centrifuges, the machines necessary to enrich uranium.

Mr Obama said that the size and configuration of the new plant were "inconsistent" with Iran's assertions that it was only being built for peaceful purposes. "Iran must comply with UN Security Council resolutions and make clear it is prepared to meet its responsibilities as a member of the community of nations. "Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow, endangering the global non-proliferation regime, denying its own people access to the opportunity they deserve, and threatening the stability and security of the region and the world."

Mr Brown said that news of the secret plant should "shock and anger" the world. He added: "Confronted by [Iran's] serial deception of many years, the international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand." The world needed to see a "step change" from Iran in the coming months, said Mr Sarkozy, describing the latest development as a challenge to the entire international community.

US intelligence agencies are believed to have been monitoring the site for months and, maybe, years, according to some reports, but its existence has never been made public. Iran has previously only admitted to having a nuclear waste disposal site in the area. A diplomatic source in London said yesterday: "This changes the whole debate. It means Iran could have nuclear weapons much sooner than anyone believed and is one of the reasons why Russia is suddenly much more open to the notion of imposing sanctions on Iran."

In the past few days, Iran has again rejected western nations' assertions at the UN that it is covertly developing nuclear weapons, describing such claims as "totally untrue and without any foundation". However, a report from the IAEA in Vienna admitted earlier this month that it could not rule out a military dimension to Iran's nuclear programme. That report was based on the work at the one, known enrichment plant at Natanz, which IAEA inspectors are monitoring. The existence of the Qom site, which Iran acknowledged in a "cryptic" message on Monday to Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, changes the situation dramatically.

Confirming receipt of the letter yesterday, a spokesman for the agency added: "The agency also understands from Iran that no nuclear material has been introduced into the facility. "In response, the IAEA has requested that Iran provide specific information and access to the facility as soon as possible." In the letter to the IAEA, the Iranians claimed that the new facility was a "pilot fuel enrichment plant" with an enrichment level up to five per cent, far below that required to make a nuclear warhead. Experts, however, questioned the accuracy of this, as such a level of enrichment was inadequate even for electricity generation. They also pointed out that Iran is producing a new, much more efficient generation of centrifuges for enrichment.

The development means that Iran's representatives will be under incredible pressure when they meet delegates from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany in Geneva on Thursday ? the first direct talks between the US and Iran in 30 years. "It is hard to see how the confirmation of the existence of the plant will not lead to much tougher sanctions being imposed on the Iranians unless they are now prepared to make some truly remarkable concessions," said the source in London.

Last month, the IAEA said that Iran had more than 8,000 centrifuges in the underground facility at Natanz but that only about 4,600 of them were fully active. The ISNA news agency in Iran quoted an unnamed government source as saying that the "second enrichment centre is similar to the Natanz enrichment facility". Iran insists that it has the right to enrich uranium for a nationwide chain of nuclear reactors but the many nations fear that the same enrichment process, when advanced, is aimed at making fissile material for nuclear warheads.

@Email:dsapsted@thenational.ae With additional reporting by James Reinl at the United Nations

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SPEC%20SHEET
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MATCH INFO

Burnley 0

Man City 3

Raheem Sterling 35', 49'

Ferran Torres 65'

 

 

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

The specS: 2018 Toyota Camry

Price: base / as tested: Dh91,000 / Dh114,000

Engine: 3.5-litre V6

Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 298hp @ 6,600rpm

Torque: 356Nm @ 4,700rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE BIO

Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.

Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.

Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.

Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.

 

 

The specs: 2017 Lotus Evora Sport 410

Price, base / as tested Dh395,000 / Dh420,000

Engine 3.5L V6

Transmission Six-speed manual

Power 410hp @ 7,000rpm

Torque 420Nm @ 3,500rpm

Fuel economy, combined 9.7L / 100km

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

  • be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
  • not be younger than 25 years-of-age
  • not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
  • be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
  • have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
  • undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his/her health and well-being
  • A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30-years-old and able to support the child financially
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%E2%80%98FSO%20Safer%E2%80%99%20-%20a%20ticking%20bomb
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10 tips for entry-level job seekers
  • Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
  • Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
  • Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
  • For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
  • Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
  • Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
  • Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
  • Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
  • Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
  • Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.

Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz