Iran to continue building at Arak heavy-water nuke plant

Tehran will never abandon enrichment activities: Rouhani

The uncompleted research reactor emerged as one of several big stumbling blocks in the marathon negotiations, in which Iran agreed to restrain its atomic activities for six months in return for limited sanctions relief. The agreement is intended to buy time for talks on a final settlement of the dispute.

Western powers fear Arak could be a source of plutonium - one of two materials, along with highly enriched uranium, that can be used for the core of a nuclear weapon - once it is operational. Iran says it would produce medical isotopes only.

According to the agreed text, Iran said it would not make “any further advances of its activities” on the Arak reactor, under construction near a western Iranian town with that name.

However, nuclear expert Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment think-tank said Zarif’s statement seemed to be an attempt to reassure anti-Western hardliners in Iran that the Arak project will survive diplomacy with the powers.

“It doesn’t matter whether Iran is doing excavation work or civil construction work around the reactor,” Hibbs said.

“What matters for now is that there is no fuel production and testing, that there is no installation at the reactor. Freezing much more than that might be seen by hardliners as total suspension of the project and therefore unacceptable.”

Other experts have said that an apparent loophole in the Geneva agreement could allow Iran to build components offsite to install later in the reactor.

“The agreement is silent on the manufacturing of remaining key components of the reactor and its continued heavywater production,” former chief UN nuclear inspector Olli Heinonen wrote in an analysis.

“Technically, such efforts are not reasonable if the goal is either to dismantle the reactor or modify it to a more proliferation-resistant, smaller light-water reactor as one of the alternative paths of producing isotopes for medical and industrial purposes,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rouhani on Tuesday hailed a landmark interim nuclear deal reached with world powers this week as the right step in a “long” journey to a comprehensive accord.

Also: DUBAI: The Iranian coast guard has seized two Saudi fishing vessels after they entered Iran’s territorial waters, a local coast guard official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

“Yesterday, the coast guard deployed in the country’s southern waters came to spot two vessels in Iran’s protected waters,” Qalandar Lashkari, commander of the Bushehr province coast guard, told the Fars news agency.

He said the two vessels were fishing illegally in Iranian waters under Saudi flags. The nine sailors of various nationalities on board were arrested, he said. see how it will develop.

Forgive us! DUBAI, Nov 27, (Agencies): Iran will pursue construction at the Arak heavy-water reactor, Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif was quoted as saying on Wednesday, despite a deal with world powers to shelve a project they fear could yield plutonium for atomic bombs.

France, one of the six powers that negotiated Sunday’s landmark initial accord with Iran to curb its disputed nuclear programme, said in response to Zarif’s statement that Tehran had to stick to what was agreed in the Geneva talks.

By Zahed Matar Qaeda. The movement has also become the target of all Islamic battalions fighting against the regime of Bashar.

As for those who are not satisfied with the agreement signed by the 5+1 group and Iran, we want to congratulate them because their stance is in line with that of Netanyahu — the enemy of Arabs and Muslims. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Omani Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s foreign minister, Khalid Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid Al-Ateyya and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Anwar Gargash, and Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr Al Qirbi attended the session.

Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah was also present. the traders. Some of them wished the premier will follow in the footsteps of Dubai leader Mohammed Bin Rashed, while others said the government is just waiting for the country to go in flames.

Al-Hashem said the government’s general policies are corrupt and it takes biased decisions; thereby, making the people resentful. She asserted, “Kuwait is an institutional State, so we do not allow depletion of its resources and violation of its laws.” She argued no one will respect the law if it is not applied on leaders and authorities first. She believes some ministers are hindering the progress of the country. She asked the prime minister, “Where is your leadership and supervision?”

Responding to the two lawmakers, Sheikh Jaber carefully explained why he considers the grilling unconstitutional. He cited Article 98 of the Constitution and he read the review of the Constitutional Court word by word, concluding that the grilling is unconstitutional.

Al-Hashem then thanked the premier for reading his written argument, indicating he did not answer any of their queries on the misery of the Kuwaiti public and the corruption of the government.

After giving the floor to the MPs to express their views on the grilling, National Assembly Speaker Marzoug AlGhanim ended the interpellation since there was no request for a no-confidence vote against the premier.

The session slated for Wednesday was cancelled and the Assembly was adjourned until Dec 24.

Meanwhile, Al-Hashem also faced State Minister for National Assembly, Development and Planning Affairs Rola Dashti on the grilling podium. She accused the minister of implementing the ‘Kuwaiti distrust’ ideology when she hired an Iraqi to work in her office, granting him access to sensitive and confidential documents that might compromise national security.

She said the Kuwaiti public is desperately seeking for jobs, yet the minister appointed a non-Kuwaiti to a high and