The UN nuclear watchdog stressed on Friday the “utmost urgency” of its request to verify all nuclear material in Iran, according to a confidential report seen by AFP.Two new reports are to be discussed at an International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors’ meeting next week, as the United States threatens strikes on Iran and presses its biggest military build-up in the Middle East in decades. On Thursday, Oman-mediated talks between Iran and the United States in Geneva were seen as a last-ditch bid to avert war. Initial optimism was tempered by Tehran warning Washington must drop “excessive demands” to reach a deal.The IAEA confirmed technical discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme would take place in Vienna next week, according to one of the reports. It added a “successful outcome” of Iran-US negotiations “would have a positive impact on the effective implementation of safeguards in Iran”.It also urged Iran to cooperate “constructively”, stressing “the utmost urgency” of the IAEA request to verify all its nuclear material.- ‘Increasing concern’ -Considerable uncertainty surrounds Iran’s stockpile of more than 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60 percent that the nuclear watchdog estimated the Islamic republic had as of mid-June last year.  Israel launched strikes on Iran last June, beginning a 12-day war that the US briefly joined to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. Tehran suspended some cooperation with the IAEA and restricted the watchdog’s inspectors from accessing sites bombed by Israel and the United States, accusing the UN body of bias and of failing to condemn the strikes.”Within the group of affected facilities, it is a matter of increasing concern that Iran has never provided the agency with access to its fourth declared enrichment facility since it was first declared by Iran in June last year,” the IAEA said in the report.The agency does not know the precise location of the Isfahan Fuel Enrichment Plant, it said in a second report.It said it had observed through commercially available satellite imagery, “regular vehicular activity” around the entrance to the tunnel complex at Isfahan, in which uranium enriched up to 20 percent and 60 percent was stored.Activities were also conducted at other affected nuclear facilities, including the enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow, it added.”Without access to these facilities it is not possible for the agency to confirm the nature and purpose of the activities,” it said.Western countries, led by the United States and Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy and considered by experts to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, accuse the Islamic republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.Tehran denies having such military ambitions, but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent, well above the 3.67 percent limit allowed by a now-defunct 2015 nuclear agreement and close to the 90 percent needed to make a bomb, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage, UK police said Friday, after pro-Palestinian graffiti was sprayed on a Winston Churchill statue in central London.The iconic monument to Britain’s World War II prime minister in Parliament Square “was graffitied with red paint” overnight, the Metropolitan Police said on X.”Officers were on scene within two minutes of being alerted shortly after 4am (0400 GMT),” the force said.The incident came as police in Northern Ireland’s capital, Belfast. appealed for witnesses after a statue of Queen Victoria was vandalised, apparently by Irish Republican group Lasair Dhearg.The group posted a picture on social media appearing to show one of its supporters pouring red paint over the statue of the monarch whom it called the “Famine Queen”, a reference to the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century.In London, the graffiti, which workers cleaned early Friday, called the wartime leader a “zionist war criminal”. The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue.The man detained was also held on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act, police added.The Greater London Authority condemned the “vandalism” and said work was underway to remove the graffiti “as quickly as possible”. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office called the damage “completely abhorrent” and said it was “glad” police had made an arrest.”Churchill was a great Briton,” a spokesman said. “This government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account.”- Activist claims stunt -A Dutch activist, naming himself as Olax Outis, claimed responsibility for the stunt in a message shared on social media by campaign group Prisoners for Palestine. Outis said he was a member of Dutch group “Free the Filton 24 NL”, a group supporting the 24 Palestine Action activists charged over a break-in at a UK factory belonging to Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in 2024.The group posted a video on its Instagram account appearing to show a man dressed in overalls, with “I support Palestine Action” written on the back, painting the statue.  Other slogans painted onto the statue included “globalise the intifada”. In December, police said people chanting this phrase would be arrested as part of efforts to counter antisemitism and incitement to violence through slogans.That followed a deadly October attack on a synagogue in the English city of Manchester and a December shooting at a Jewish festival at Australia’s Bondi Beach in Sydney in which 15 people were killed.The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israeli occupation. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.The 3.6 metre (12-foot) Churchill statue has been vandalised a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.

US President Donald Trump on Friday voiced frustration with Iran’s stance in nuclear negotiations but said he had not yet decided whether to carry out a threatened attack, as US staff were authorized to leave Israel due to heightened risks.Trump has ordered the biggest military build-up in decades in the Middle East, with the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, approaching the coast of Israel, as he demands Iran agree to sweeping concessions on concerns starting with its nuclear program.A day after the United States and Iran held talks in Geneva, Trump said that the cleric-run state was “not willing to give us what we have to have” but added on military force, “We haven’t made a final decision.””We’re not exactly happy with the way they negotiated. They cannot have nuclear weapons, and we’re not thrilled with the way they’re negotiating,” Trump told reporters.”We want no nuclear weapons by Iran and they’re not saying those golden words.”Iran has said repeatedly that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons and agreed to restrictions on enrichment in a 2015 deal that Trump ripped up during his first term in office.Trump in June had said that Iran’s key nuclear sites had been “obliterated” after the United States joined a major Israeli bombing campaign.The renewed pressure comes weeks after Iranian authorities killed thousands of people as they crushed one of the biggest threats to the Islamic republic established after the 1979 revolution deposed the pro-Western shah.Trump said “nobody knows” if an attack would bring down the Iranian government.- Rubio heads to Israel -US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel for talks on Iran on Monday, the State Department announced. In a rare break from decades of precedent, the top US diplomat will travel without reporters on his plane.Rubio will head to Israel even after the US embassy announced it was allowing non-emergency US government personnel and family members to leave “due to safety risks.”Americans “may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available,” the embassy said on its website. Germany in a new advisory said it “urgently” discouraged travel to Israel.Britain said it was moving diplomatic staff out of Tel Aviv, Israel’s economic hub where most countries maintain embassies, to another location in the country as a “precautionary measure.”China, a main partner of Tehran, called on its citizens to evacuate Iran “as soon as possible.” The United States and European countries already have longstanding warnings on travel to Iran.- Holding out hope for talks -On February 19, Trump gave Iran 15 days to reach a deal. While Iran has insisted discussions focus solely on nuclear issues, Washington wants Tehran’s missile programme and its support for militant groups curtailed.Oman, which brokered the negotiations in Iran that included Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and roving negotiator Steve Witkoff, has offered a positive take on the talks.Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi met Friday in Washington with Vice President JD Vance.Busaidi wrote on X that he looked forward to “further and decisive progress in the coming days.” “Peace is within our reach,” he wrote.Iran has trumpeted what it calls progress during the negotiations. But Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sounded a warning on Friday in talks with his Egyptian counterpart, saying that “success in this path requires seriousness and realism from the other side and avoidance of any miscalculation and excessive demands.”The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed that it would hold technical discussions with Iran on Monday.The agency called on Iran to cooperate with it “constructively,” stressing “the utmost urgency” of its request to verify all its nuclear material, according to a confidential report seen by AFP. In their capital Tehran, ordinary Iranians expressed distrust of the United States and hoped negotiations would lead to economic relief for their sanctions-hit nation. “Whatever the outcome of the negotiations… it should lead to some improvement in people’s economic situation. Not just a little — it is our right,” Ali Bagheri, 34, told AFP. Hamid Beiranvand, 42, said Iran should “not give any concessions” as Washington “breaks promises,” but that “everyone prefers that a war doesn’t happen.” burs-sct/aha

Veteran Hollywood star Susan Sarandon on Friday praised the Spanish government’s support for Gaza, saying it was “on the right side of history”.”I think Spain is doing an incredible job,” Sarandon, her voice trembling with emotion, told reporters in Barcelona.She lauded Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and actors such as Oscar-winner Javier Bardem for taking a strong public stand in support of Palestine.”When you turn on the TV and see how strong Spain is and how clear you are morally on these issues, it makes you feel less alone,” Sarandon said.The star of “Thelma and Louise” called Spain’s position “so important” in the United States, which she described as “a place where you feel repression and censorship”.Spain’s Sanchez has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the most senior European leader to refer to the conflict as a “genocide”.His leftist government broke with European allies in 2024 by recognising a Palestinian state, infuriating Israel.”Whenever I have seen him, he has been on the right side of history and also said it in a very clear way.” Sarandon said of Sanchez, describing him  as “handsome and tall”.Sanchez thanked Sarandon, writing on X that “it is so moving for me that someone the whole of Spain has admired and respected for years has made such a wonderful public statement about our country”.Sarandon is in Barcelona to receive a lifetime achievement honour at Spain’s top film awards, the Goyas.She won the 1996 Best Actress Oscar for “Dead Man Walking”, where she played a nun who supports a man sentenced to death.