Region

BERLIN/TEHRAN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that Iran has failed to agree to proposals from European countries on reviving a deal on restricting its nuclear programme, warning this would put any accord out of reach "in the near future".

His comments came as Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid visited Germany in his latest diplomatic effort to persuade Western powers to ditch the agreement with the Israel's arch nemesis Tehran.

Israel has long opposed a revival of the 2015 accord, which has been moribund since then US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and reimposed biting sanctions on Tehran.

Momentum that built towards a restored agreement last month has slowed, with the three European nations party to the agreement, Germany, France and Britain, expressing doubts about Iran's sincerity over the weekend.

Speaking alongside the Israeli leader in Berlin, Scholz said he regretted that Iran "has not yet given a positive response to proposals" from the Europeans.

“There is now actually no reason for Iran not to agree to these proposals. But we have to note that this is not the case, and will not happen certainly in the near future.”

Lapid said it was “time to move past the failed negotiations with Iran”.

“They cannot and will not achieve the goal we all share to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”

The 2015 agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave Iran sanctions relief in return for restricting its nuclear programme.

Negotiations underway in Vienna since April 2021 have sought to restore the agreement, by lifting the sanctions on Tehran and pushing Iran to fully honour its prior nuclear commitments.

‘Critical diplomatic opportunity’ 

In a joint statement at the weekend, Germany, France and Britain charged that Tehran “has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity”.

“Instead, Iran continues to escalate its nuclear programme way beyond any plausible civilian justification”, it added. Iran’s foreign ministry criticised those comments as “unconstructive”.

Further complicating efforts to revive the deal, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report last week that it “cannot assure” the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear programme. Iran reaffirmed Monday its “readiness” to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Before flying to Berlin, Lapid told his cabinet that “Israel is conducting a successful diplomatic campaign to stop the nuclear agreement and prevent the lifting of sanctions on Iran”.

“It is not over yet,” he added. “There is still a long way to go, but there are encouraging signs.”

A senior Israeli official told AFP that Israel’s understanding was there would be no return to the deal until mid-November, and they were working with partners on a new strategy.

As well as Scholz, Lapid met Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.

Israel insists Iran would use revenue from sanctions relief to bolster allied groups capable of attacking Israelis, notably Lebanese Shiite group Hizbollah, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two key Palestinian militant organisations.

Last month, the European Union, which acts as the mediator of the nuclear talks, put forward a “final” draft of the agreement.

Iran and the US then took turns to respond to the text, with Washington saying on Friday that Tehran’s reply was a step “backwards”.

Meanwhile, Iran reaffirmed Monday its “readiness” to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, after the agency said in a report it “cannot assure” the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear programme.

The finding last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) further complicated diplomatic efforts to revive a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, including the United States.

Iran is “ready to cooperate with the agency to clear up the false and unrealistic perceptions regarding its peaceful nuclear activities”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a press conference.

Tehran declares its “readiness to continue constructive cooperation with the IAEA”, Kanani added, also pointing to the agency’s “obligations”.

QAMISHLI, Syria — Three people have died of cholera in northern and eastern Syria, the region's Kurdish administration said Saturday, appealing for international help to contain the outbreak.

Health authorities warned of "a large number of cholera cases in Raqa province and the western countryside of Deir Ezzor province".

Cholera is generally contracted from contaminated food or water, and causes diarrhoea and vomiting. It can spread in residential areas that lack proper sewage networks or mains drinking water.

The Kurdish administration called on international agencies, "especially the World Health Organisation, to provide necessary support to limit the spread of cholera".

The Syrian health ministry also reported 15 cases of cholera in mostly government-controlled Aleppo province, in a statement released on Saturday.

They are now being treated in hospital, it said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the disease had spread in western parts of Deir Ezzor after local authorities stopped distributing chlorine to water pumping stations.

The Britain-based monitoring group, which has a wide network of sources in Syria, said that hundreds of people in the area were complaining of vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches.

The Deir Ezzor water authority has begun distributing 1,000 litres of chlorine to water stations in rural areas of the province, the Kurdish administration said.

"This step is a precautionary measure to prevent cholera," it added.

More than a decade of civil war has devastated Syria's water supply and sewerage infrastructure.

Nationwide, the war has damaged two thirds of water treatment plants, half of pumping stations and one third of water towers, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

Nearly half the population relies on alternative and often unsafe sources of water while at least 70 per cent of sewage goes untreated, UNICEF said.

An outbreak of cholera hit neighbouring Iraq this summer for the first time since 2015.

Worldwide, the disease affects between 1.3 million and 4 million people each year, killing between 21,000 and 143,000 people.

BERLIN — European powers on Saturday raised "serious doubts" over Iran's sincerity in seeking a nuclear agreement, warning that Tehran's position jeopardises prospects of restoring the 2015 accord.

European mediators last month appeared to make progress in restoring the 2015 accord as Iran largely agreed to a proposed final text.

But optimism dimmed when the United States sent a reply, to which Iran in turn responded.

In a joint statement on Saturday, France, Germany and Britain said that the final package put to Tehran had taken the European powers "to the limit of their flexibility"

"Unfortunately, Iran has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity, they said, assessing that "instead, Iran continues to escalate its nuclear programme way beyond any plausible civilian justification".

Tehran has also reopened issues related to its legally binding obligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty that was concluded with the UN atomic energy watchdog IAEA.

"This latest demand raises serious doubts as to Iran's intentions and commitment to a successful outcome on the JCPoA," France, Germany and Britain said, using the acronym for the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).

The JCPoA had been trashed by former US president Donald Trump, who instead imposed sweeping new sanctions.

Hopes had grown that the agreement might be revived under President Joe Biden who favours restoring it.

Under the deal, Iran will enjoy sanctions relief and again be able to sell its oil worldwide in return for tough restrictions on its nuclear programme.

The three European powers' statement came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assessed that Iran's latest reply on the nuclear deal is a step "backwards".

He also warned that Washington is "not about to agree to a deal that doesn't meet our bottom-line requirements".

QAMISHLI, Syria — Three people have died of cholera in northern and eastern Syria, the region's Kurdish administration said on Saturday, appealing for international help to contain the outbreak.

Health authorities warned of "a large number of cholera cases in Raqa province and the western countryside of Deir Ezzor province".

Cholera is generally contracted from contaminated food or water and causes diarrhoea and vomiting. It can spread in residential areas that lack proper sewage networks or mains drinking water.

The Kurdish administration called on international agencies, "especially the World Health Organisation, to provide necessary support to limit the spread of cholera".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the disease had spread in western parts of Deir Ezzor after local authorities stopped distributing chlorine to water pumping stations.

The Britain-based group, which has a wide network of sources in Syria, said that hundreds of people in the area were complaining of vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches.

The Deir Ezzor water authority has begun distributing 1,000 litres of chlorine to water stations in rural areas of the province, the Kurdish administration said Saturday.

“This step is a precautionary measure to prevent cholera,” it added.

More than a decade of civil war has devastated Syria’s water supply and sewerage infrastructure.

Nationwide, the war has damaged two thirds of water treatment plants, half of pumping stations and one third of water towers, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said.

Nearly half the population relies on alternative and often unsafe sources of water while at least 70 per cent of sewage goes untreated, UNICEF said.

An outbreak of cholera hit neighbouring Iraq this summer for the first time since 2015.

Worldwide, the disease affects between 1.3 million and four million people each year, killing between 21,000 and 143,000 people.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The Israeli occupation forces killed Palestinian teenager on Thursday, the fourth deadly attack in the occupied territory in as many days.

The Palestinian health ministry named the teenager killed as Haytham Hani Mubarak, 17.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that six Palestinians had been arrested in an overnight raid in Jenin refugee camp, a flashpoint in the northern West Bank.

Twelve people were treated for injuries following a separate Israeli army raid in Nablus, also in the West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

Israel has stepped up operations in the northern West Bank in particular and carried out near nightly raids on Palestinian-administered towns and cities, sparking frequent clashes with residents.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian was killed during an Israeli raid in Al-Fara camp near Jenin. Two more were killed during incursions earlier this week into Jenin and Qabatiya to its south.

TUNIS — Tunisia's main opposition alliance said on Wednesday its members including the once-powerful Ennahdha party would boycott December polls to replace a parliament dissolved by President Kais Saied.

The vote is set for nearly a year and a half after Saied suspended the Ennahdha-dominated assembly and sacked the government, later pushing through a constitution enshrining his one-man rule.

"The National Salvation Front has definitively decided to boycott the upcoming elections," said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, head of the front which is made up of parties and movements opposed to Saied.

He said the move was in response to an electoral law written "by Saied alone", part of a "coup against constitutional legitimacy".

Saied's power grab was welcomed by many Tunisians tired of what they saw as a fractious and corrupt system established after the 2011 revolution.

But opposition forces say his moves, culminating in a new constitution confirmed by a widely boycotted July referendum, amount to a return to autocracy in the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring.