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Iran says to submit own nuclear proposal to US soon

Iran said on Monday it will soon present a counter-proposal on a nuclear deal with the United States, after it had described Washington’s offer as containing “ambiguities”.Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear accord to replace the deal with major powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. The longtime foes have been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran’s uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a “non-negotiable” right and Washington describing it as a “red line”.On May 31, after the fifth round of talks, Iran said it had received “elements” of a US proposal, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later saying the text contained “ambiguities”.Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei criticised the US proposal as “lacking elements” reflective of the previous rounds of negotiations, without providing further details.”We will soon submit our own proposed plan to the other side through (mediator) Oman once it is finalised,” Baqaei told a weekly press briefing.”It is a proposal that is reasonable, logical and balanced, and we strongly recommend that the American side value this opportunity.”Also on Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi told state news agency IRNA that Iran’s response “is a framework for agreement”.”If we reach an understanding on this framework in principle, further extensive negotiations will begin on its details,” he added.Iran’s parliament speaker has said the US proposal failed to include the lifting of sanctions — a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years.- ‘Strategic mistake’ -Trump, who has revived his “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions on Iran since taking office in January, has repeatedly said Tehran will not be allowed any uranium enrichment under a potential deal.On Wednesday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US offer was “100 percent against” notions of independence and self-reliance.He insisted that uranium enrichment was “key” to Iran’s nuclear programme and that the US “cannot have a say” on the issue.Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead.Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.The United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday began a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna that will last until Friday to discuss Iran’s nuclear activities among other topics.”I call upon Iran urgently to cooperate fully and effectively with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” said agency chief Rafael Grossi in his opening speech.”Unless and until Iran assists the agency in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues, the agency will not be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful,” he added.Earlier, the agency released a report criticising “less than satisfactory” cooperation from Tehran, particularly in explaining past cases of nuclear material found at undeclared sites.Iran has criticised the IAEA report as unbalanced, saying it relied on “forged documents” provided by its arch foe Israel.Britain, France and Germany, the three European countries that are party to the 2015 deal, are currently weighing whether to trigger the sanctions “snapback” mechanism in the accord.The mechanism would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance — an option that expires in October.On Friday, Araghchi warned European powers against backing a draft resolution at the IAEA accusing Tehran of non-compliance, calling it a “strategic mistake”.On Monday, Baqaei said Iran has “prepared and formulated a series of steps and measures” if the resolution is passed.”Without a doubt, the response to confrontation will not be more cooperation,” he added.

Israel diverts Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on Monday, preventing the activists on board — including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg — from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the “hungriest place on Earth”. After 21 months of war, the UN warns the entire population is at risk of famine.At around 4:02 am (0102 GMT), Israeli troops “forcibly intercepted” the vessel in international waters as it approached Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.”If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” Thunberg said in pre-recorded footage shared by the coalition.Video from the group shows the activists with their hands up as Israeli forces boarded the vessel, with one of them saying nobody was injured prior to the interception.Israel’s foreign ministry, in a post on social media, said “all the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed”, adding it expected the activists to return to their home countries.Turkey condemned the interception as a “heinous attack” in international waters. Iran also denounced it as “a form of piracy”, citing the same grounds.In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported it was struck by drones in an attack the group blamed on Israel. In 2010, a commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach Israel’s naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.- ‘Risked their lives’ for food -The Madleen was intercepted about 185 kilometres (115 miles) west of the coast of Gaza, according to coordinates from the coalition.President Emmanuel Macron requested that the six French nationals aboard the boat “be allowed to return to France as soon as possible”, a presidential official said.Israel is facing mounting pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.It recently allowed some deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a GHF-run site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza.The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.- Sinwar -The GHF said there had been no incidents “at any of our three sites” on Sunday.Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.”I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body.She spoke of the struggle to access food aid under the blockade, despite the recent easing.At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan said she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site “because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting”.”I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families,” she told AFP.Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed Hamas leader in Gaza, in an underground tunnel.The military, which until Sunday had not confirmed his death, said Israeli forces killed Sinwar on May 13.Sinwar was the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack that triggered the war.The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The UN considers these figures reliable.After the deaths of several Hamas leaders, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel.