“U.N. Condemns Iran Over Nuclear Activity, Fueling U.S. Calls to End Deal,” Laurence Norman, Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2020. Here is an extended quote from this major story. “Member states from the United Nations atomic agency board voted Friday to condemn Iran for failing to cooperate with its probe of Tehran’s nuclear activities, a move that gives the Trump administration fresh ammunition in its push to kill the Iranian nuclear deal. The resolution, the first since 2012 to call out Iran for not cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency, comes as the U.S. mounts a multi-front campaign to press Iran to come back to the negotiating table and agree a new, stricter and broader agreement on nuclear and other activities. The U.S. is currently pressing for an indefinite extension to a conventional weapons embargo on Iran, due to expire in October under the 2015 nuclear deal. U.S. officials have warned they will move to reimpose international sanctions unilaterally on Iran if the embargo isn’t continued, a move seen by Russia, China and some European diplomats as illegal. The U.S. argues that Iran’s noncooperation with the IAEA, its arms transfers to proxy groups and Tehran’s noncompliance with many of the nuclear deal’s constraints are grounds for killing the nuclear deal. However, Iran only started to breach the agreement’s terms after President Trump exited the deal in May 2018 and imposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran. The IAEA board resolution centers on Iran’s refusal to grant access to inspectors to two sites the agency wants to see and to answer questions about largely past nuclear activities. The agency’s probe mostly concerns suspected nuclear weapons work Iran did in the early 2000s, long before the 2015 nuclear deal. However the agency says Iran moved to cleanse traces of those activities as recently as 2019. It says Iran’s refusal to grant access to the sites breaches Iran’s pledge to implement an IAEA protocol allowing for widespread inspections that Tehran agreed to implement in the nuclear deal. The resolution drafted by Britain, France and Germany called on Iran to “fully cooperate with the Agency and satisfy the Agency’s requests without any further delay.” There was no deadline set for cooperation. The issue could be escalated to the U.N. Security Council if member states approved. In a sign of the international divisions over Iran, 25 countries voted in favor of the resolution. Russia and China, veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, opposed it. Seven countries, including India, abstained.” This is the first formal condemnation of Iran for IAEA noncooperation since 2012.
“Differing Police Accounts On Death Of Iran Judge In Romania,” Radio Farda, June 19, 2020.
“International nuclear inspectors and the United States accused Iran on Friday of hiding suspected nuclear activity, the first time in more than eight years that Tehran has been accused of obstructing inspections.” See “Iran accused of hiding suspected nuclear activity,” David Sanger and Lara Jakes, New York Times, June 19, 2020.
Two quotes. “Espionage in Germany has reached a level that we have not seen since the Cold War.” And “Germany has allowed lax oversight of Iranian espionage activities over the years, according to critics. Iran’s regime uses its vast espionage structure and agents to conduct surveillance on Iranian dissidents and political opponents in Germany, multiple intelligence reports have noted. Prosecutors and Germany’s foreign ministry have tended to avoid confrontation with countries that engage in espionage within the territory of the federal republic. Germany has long remained a hotbed of spying activities.” See “Germany accuses Iran, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Russia, China of espionage,” Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, June 19, 2020.
Suicide? “Iranian Ex-Judge Dies in Romania, Falls From Hotel Window,” AP, US News, June 19, 2020.
So, Mansouri was about to be returned to Iran, and he commits suicide? He is a former Iranian judge sought by Iran to face corruption charges. See “A Qeshm Airplane Will Fly to Sofia Thursday Night to Return Mansouri and Two Prisoners to Iran,” Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, June 18, 2020.
“Government In Iran Bans Tourism To Region Where Many ‘Human Mules’ Die,” Maryam Sinaiee, Radio Farda, June 19, 2020.
“Iran rejects US sanctions on Syria,” Reuters, Daily Star, June 19, 2020.