Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, with Cuba's President Raul Castro in Cuba earlier this month. AP Photo/Javier Galeano

UN nuclear inspectors start investigation in Iran

The inspectors are examining whether Iran really does have a secret atomic weapons programme, which Iran vehemently denies.

UN NUCLEAR INSPECTORS began a critical mission to Iran today to probe allegations of a secret atomic weapons programme

The move comes amid escalating Western economic pressures and warnings about safeguarding Gulf oil shipments from possible Iranian blockades.

The findings from the three-day visit could greatly influence the direction and urgency of U.S.-led efforts to rein in Iran’s ability to enrich uranium — which Washington and allies fear could eventually produce weapons-grade material. Iran has declined to abandon its enrichment labs, but claims it only seeks to fuel reactors for energy and medical research.

The International Atomic Energy Agency team is likely to visit an underground enrichment site near the holy city of Qom, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Tehran, which is carved into a mountain as protection from possible airstrikes. Earlier this month, Iran said it had begun enrichment work at the site, which is far smaller than the country’s main uranium labs but is reported to have more advanced equipment.

The U.N. nuclear agency delegation includes two senior weapons experts — Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa — suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations that it seeks nuclear warheads.

Fabricated documents

In unusually blunt comments ahead of his arrival, the IAEA’s Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts — who is in charge of the agency’s Iran file — said he wants Tehran to “engage us on all concerns.”

Iran has refused to discuss the alleged weapons experiments for three years, saying they are based on “fabricated documents” provided by a “few arrogant countries” — a phrase authorities in Iran often use to refer to the United States and its allies.

“So we’re looking forward to the start of a dialogue,” Nackaerts told reporters at Vienna airport. “A dialogue that is overdue since very long.”

In a sign of the tensions that surround Iran’s disputed nuclear program, a dozen Iranian hard-liners carrying photos of slain nuclear expert Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan were waiting at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport early Sunday.

Iranian state media allege that Roshan, a chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, was interviewed by IAEA inspectors before being killed earlier this month in a targeted bomb attack that Iran claims is part of an Israeli-led covert campaign of sabotage and slayings. Roshan was at least the fourth member of Iran’s scientific community to be killed in apparent assassinations.

In Vienna, the IAEA said it does not know Roshan and has never talked to him.

Tensions between the UN and Iran

But the IAEA team will be looking for permission to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on a weapons program. They also plan to inspect documents related to nuclear work and secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future visits. It’s unclear how much assistance Iran will provide, but even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from Iran’s frequent simple refusal to talk about them.

Iran also has accused the IAEA in the past of security leaks that expose its scientists and their families to the threat of assassination by the U.S. and Israel.

The visit coincides with planned debate in Iran’s parliament over whether to immediately cut the flow of crude oil to Europe in retaliation for sanctions. The European Union last week announced an embargo on Iranian oil that is set to take full effect in July.

The head of Iran’s state oil company said Sunday that pressures on Iran’s oil exports — the second biggest in OPEC — could drive prices as high as $150 a barrel.

“It seems we will witness prices from $120 to $150 in the future,” Ahmad Qalehbani was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency. He did not give a timeframe for the prediction, nor any other details.

The price of benchmark U.S. crude on Friday was around $99.56 per barrel. About 80 percent of Iran’s foreign revenue comes from exporting around 2.2 million barrels of oil per day.

Oil prices have been driven higher in recent weeks by Iran’s warnings that it could block the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, the route for about one-fifth of the world’s oil. Last week, the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, joined by French and British warships, entered the Gulf in a show of strength against any attempts to disrupt oil tanker traffic.

Iranian nuclear facility official killed in ‘magnetic bomb’ attack

EU agrees oil embargo against Iran over nuclear programme

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
19 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Celtic Eagle
    Favourite Celtic Eagle
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:07 PM

    He forgot problem creators.. Which they are guilty

    391
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Cauldhame
    Favourite Frank Cauldhame
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:40 PM

    @Celtic Eagle: Sorry pal but going by MM’s personal theory YOU SIR are a problem exploiter because erm, there is no middle ground, but don’t you fret none because under those very terms you are also a problem solver

    56
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Deegan
    Favourite Stephen Deegan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 8:54 PM

    @Frank Cauldhame: Too much free drink at the ard feis, there frank? Take it easy now, some of you might have to do an interview in the morning.

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Byrne
    Favourite Paul Byrne
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:30 PM

    He bankrupted our country

    241
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Don Hogan
    Favourite Don Hogan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:46 PM

    @Paul Byrne: You obviously do not read newspapers or listen to TV or radio.net news. Ireland is not bankrupt. It has a 6 billion surplus this year. Guess you never heard of the Celtic Tiger and the bank bail out. Your lack of knowledge about economic matters is shameful.

    50
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute M Bowe
    Favourite M Bowe
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:51 PM

    @Don Hogan: convenient of you to have forgotten the € 60 odd Billion yet to be repaid for the bank bail out.

    177
    See 6 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patricia O'Brien
    Favourite Patricia O'Brien
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:55 PM

    @Don Hogan: if we have 6 billion surplus, how come our housing, our homeless, healhcare, our elderly our carers i could go on, are in such dire need ? Answer me that?

    117
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Donal Desmond
    Favourite Donal Desmond
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:56 PM

    @Don Hogan: Would that be the same bank bailout that Martin stated never happened.

    111
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute M Bowe
    Favourite M Bowe
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 8:21 PM

    @Paul Hedderman: false. The bail out loans were restructured under Noonan and spread out over 40 years. Which the next 2 generations are saddled with. The troika loans amounted to €67.5 billion. The Nama payments barely cover interest payments or non troika loans.

    61
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Linehan
    Favourite Paul Linehan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 9:06 PM

    @Paul Hedderman: ’250+ billion debt to do with govt general mismanagement of finances over the years’…… Would you like to enlighten us as to who was in government for those years? No worries, we already know the culprits.

    45
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Hedderman
    Favourite Paul Hedderman
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 9:36 PM

    @Paul Linehan: Yep, majority of isnt bailout which is the point.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Linehan
    Favourite Paul Linehan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 9:47 PM

    @Paul Hedderman: But what parties mismanaged the country’s finances to give us a 250+billion deficit over the last 100 or so years?

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute M Bowe
    Favourite M Bowe
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:35 PM

    The paragraph about 6000 houses and SF objections, with added caption that fact checkers previously found the claim misleading sums up the fake narrative of FF and Micheal Martin.
    How does false narratives solve anything????

    150
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Byrne
    Favourite Paul Byrne
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:29 PM

    What a muppet

    160
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Byrne
    Favourite Dave Byrne
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:37 PM

    No story still from the Journal about the laptop seized by the Gardai?

    84
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dearbhla O Reilly
    Favourite Dearbhla O Reilly
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:42 PM

    @Dave Byrne: which?

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Byrne
    Favourite Dave Byrne
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 8:08 PM
    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute a politicians promise is as good as a lie
    Favourite a politicians promise is as good as a lie
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:12 PM

    That’s a very Binary definition Mr Martin.. I thought in this time of woke theology there would be many different kinds of political ideas and definitions of people rather than just 2

    62
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Don Hogan
    Favourite Don Hogan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:42 PM

    @a politicians promise is as good as a lie: Woke theory is a pile of rubbish designed to let people off the hook for their own failings and mistakes.

    49
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Griffin
    Favourite Michael Griffin
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 11:54 PM

    Why is an English pension fund buying up properties and leasing them back to the government on a 20 year lease and still owning the property, while this government keep paying the bill.

    52
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William Houlihan
    Favourite William Houlihan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 10:49 PM

    He conceded that homelessness was unacceptable, and still he has confidence in o’brien. Well holy God….

    52
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fintan O'Halloran
    Favourite Fintan O'Halloran
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:09 PM

    Exploiting a business opportunity is not wrong Michael. Denis O’Brien serviced the need for water meters when it was required by government. The whole point of business is to exploit an opportunity. So such a statement is ludicrous

    65
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tom Kelly
    Favourite Tom Kelly
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 9:28 PM

    Problem solvers.. lol

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Van-Standen
    Favourite David Van-Standen
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 11:13 PM

    Where exactly these alleged problem solving politicians?

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Verners Tess
    Favourite Verners Tess
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 9:53 PM

    Why is it that politicians, who create our problems, are the same people to solve them?

    31
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rob Duggan
    Favourite Rob Duggan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:47 PM

    Very true. He is doing an excellent job and is a steady mature leader in a time of paid actors.

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tom Bombdadil
    Favourite Tom Bombdadil
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 10:00 PM

    When you think of FF:FG it always reminds me of only fools and horses, when trigger has had the same broom for years

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Gaughan
    Favourite John Gaughan
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 7:48 PM

    We are the best little country in Europe

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Will Roche
    Favourite Will Roche
    Report
    Oct 1st 2022, 8:47 PM

    Not sure Ukraine is regarded as a small nation.

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Christopher Byrne
    Favourite Christopher Byrne
    Report
    Oct 2nd 2022, 8:13 AM

    FF like FG are irrelevant. They ill be both annihilated at the next election. The boomers who’ve blindly vited them in for the last 40yrs are on the way out. The youth see them for what they are.

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Liam OhArgadain
    Favourite Liam OhArgadain
    Report
    Oct 2nd 2022, 8:27 PM

    Leave it to the keyboard Warriors!

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.