Region

VIENNA — The EU, Russia and Iran hailed progress at nuclear talks on Saturday as discussions resumed in Vienna following an attack on one of Tehran's nuclear sites.

The talks also took place just a day after Iran said it had started producing uranium at 60-per cent purity following an explosion at its Natanz nuclear facility that it blamed on arch-foe Israel.

The Islamic republic had warned it would sharply ramp up its enrichment of uranium earlier this week.

That cast a shadow over the talks in Vienna aimed at rescuing a nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers that the United States ditched almost three years ago.

European Union envoy Enrique Mora said Saturday that "progress has been made in a far from easy task. We need now more detailed work".

Russian ambassador to Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov added that "participants took note with satisfaction of the progress made so far and expressed determination to continue negotiations with a view to complete the process successfully as soon as possible".

The discussions involved EU officials and representatives from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and Iran.

The talks are aimed at determining which sanctions the United States should lift and the measures Iran has to take in order to rein in Tehran's nuclear programme.

‘Common final goal'

Iran delegation head Abbas Araghchi remarked on Telegram that "a good discussion took place within the joint commission".

"It appears that a new agreement is taking shape and there is now a common final goal among all," he added.

While noting that all sides appeared to agree on which path to take, Araghchi cautioned that "this will not be an easy path".

"It is not as if disagreements have been resolved", he said.

"There are still serious disagreements that must be reduced during future negotiations."

On Friday, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, confirmed Iran was now producing uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity, taking the country closer to the 90 per cent level required for use in a nuclear weapon.

“The enrichment of uranium to 60 per cent is underway” in Natanz, he was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.

US President Joe Biden commented that the Iranian decision would not help resolve the standoff, but added: “We are nonetheless pleased that Iran has continued to agree to engage in discussions.”

Iran has repeatedly insisted it is not seeking atomic weapons, but it has gradually rolled back its nuclear commitments since 2019, the year after Washington withdrew from the accord and began imposing sanctions.

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

Iran had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67 per cent, a level it raised to 20 per cent in January.

Negotiations aimed at ensuring the return of the United States to the JCPOA and the lifting of sanctions resumed this week.

“We think that negotiations have reached a stage that the parties can start working on a joint text. The writing of the text can start, at least in the fields with a consensus,” Araghchi said.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The Israeli forces said on Saturday it had conducted air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip following a rocket attack from the Palestinian enclave, in the second such exchange in as many days.

The strikes hit what the military described as "terror targets" operated by Gaza's Islamist ruling party Hamas.

They included a "training facility, an anti-aircraft missile launcher post, a concrete production plant & terror tunnel infrastructure".

Witnesses and security sources said the strikes hit two militant "training sites" in southern Gaza and another target in central Gaza.

A Hamas spokesman said that despite the Israeli action, "Gaza still fights and doesn't break."

The strikes came hours after militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into southern Israel.

An Israeli forces spokesperson said the rocket hit open ground and caused no casualties or damage.

It was the second such exchange in recent days. Late Thursday, Palestinian militants fired a rocket at southern Israel, prompting the army to launch retaliatory air strikes on Gaza that caused no casualties.

Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza's sea and land borders after Hamas seized control in 2007. The two sides have since fought three wars.

A fragile truce has endured in recent years despite occasional flareups, with Palestinians firing rockets at Israel and it is responding with air strikes on the coastal enclave.

TRIPOLI — Libya on Saturday launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign for the general population in Tripoli, with the elderly and healthcare workers given priority in the conflict-hit North African nation.

Those over 70 would get the AstraZeneca jab while the Russian Sputnik V vaccine would be administered to medical personnel and those aged 50-60, the National Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) said.

NCDC head Badreddine Al Najjar told AFP the vaccines would be distributed across Libya "in the coming days", adding that China's Sinovac jab would also be available.

Libya has so far received 400,000 doses, including 200,000 Sputnik V shots, 57,600 AstraZeneca jabs and 150,000 from Turkey thought to be China's Sinovac.

The AstraZeneca doses were delivered through the Covax programme for lower and middle income countries.

The country is struggling to emerge from decades of violence and political rivalries following its descent into chaos in the aftermath of the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that ousted dictator Muammar Qadhafi.

Although rich in oil, the economy has been hit hard and the situation was further compounded by the pandemic with nearly 1,000 cases registered per day in recent weeks.

Since the pandemic emerged last year, there have been 171,131 confirmed COVID cases in Libya, including 2,882 deaths, out of a population of 7 million, officials say.

On Saturday, dozens of men and women wore face masks and sat on chairs which were spread out to ensure physical distancing in the courtyard of a vaccination centre in Tripoli as they waited to get a jab.

Libyan authorities have appealed on the general population, including illegal migrants, to register for vaccination and set up an electronic portal in March for that purpose.

But no lockdown measures are currently in place, and while masks are obligatory in public places, the measure is widely flouted.

Libya officially launched its vaccination campaign a week ago with Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah getting the first jab.

Dbeibah was selected earlier this year through a UN-backed inter-Libyan dialogue to lead the country to national elections in December 2021.

By Jean Marc Mojon
Agence France-Presse


BEIRUT — Lebanese doctor Riad Sarkis says he can help curb Covid-19 globally. As he speaks inside Beirut airport, one of his secret weapons is wagging its tail next to him.

Specifically trained sniffer dogs can detect Covid in a person in a few seconds, including in very early stages when a PCR test would yield a negative result.

"Man's best friend" doesn't even begin to describe how Dr Sarkis views dogs, which he argues can save more human lives than ever before by stopping the spread of the pandemic.

"The day we build a machine with an electronic nose that amplifies smells 10,000 times, then we can replace the dogs. For now, we need them," Sarkis says.

The effusive professor, who splits his time and work between France and Lebanon, has temporarily sidelined his passions for music and poetry to stay on a war footing against the pandemic that has brought the world to a standstill.

A digestive system surgery professor and oncologist, Sarkis had spent 12 years researching how dogs could help detect cancer and increase chances of early treatment.

"When Covid appeared, I thought why not try. And it worked," he recounts.

Almost infallible 

Research was conducted with France's Maisons-Alfort veterinary school, a leading institution founded in the 18th century, and various labs and universities.

The results were staggering: the hyper-sensitive snouts of trained sniffer dogs were almost infallible.

"PCR tests have a margin of error that can reach 30 per cent. With dogs, it's less than five percent," he says.

Each dog can process hundreds of samples every day, the only wages they need are biscuits or rubber toys and they deliver results on the spot.

The technique is not intended to replace PCR testing but has been rolled out in a number of international airports such as Dubai, Helsinki and Sydney.

At a training facility provided by Bank Audi in Beirut, Rox and Sky, an Alsatian and a Malinois, are being trained by dog handler Carlo Selman.

"These dogs are a gift from God to combat Covid," he says, as Sky wiggles in excitement ahead of a new exercise.

Replicating the set-up at an airport terminal, a partition shields the dogs from the testing area, where passengers are ushered into booths.

The underarm sweat sample is collected by the passengers, who are generally only too happy not to have a swab drilled into their nostrils.

Other uses 

The cotton pad is dropped in a glass container, which is in turn placed at the small end of cones that flare open on the other side of the partition.

Pacing down the row of cones on their handlers' leash, the dogs poke their muzzles in each one.

If a sample is positive, they stop and sit in front of it, waiting for their treat.

Sniffer dogs with K9 unit experience in explosives or drugs detection can be trained in weeks.

Sarkis explains that the accuracy and speed of the dogs' testing skills should be a key to stemming the spread of the Covid pandemic.

"By the time a passenger carrying Covid gets PCR results, he has entered the country and very often the damage is done," he says.

Dogs can detect Covid at a very early stage, which allows for the isolation of asymptomatic people who would otherwise be unwittingly spreading the virus.

The use of dogs is not limited to airports and Sarkis hopes to spread the technique to a wide range of occasions and locations.

The speed of canine screening could make it an attractive option for buildings and events hosting large numbers of visitors, such as theatres and weddings.

The use of dogs for Covid detection is also a milestone in scientific research, Sarkis said.

"It's a fantastic innovation because it's the first time we're able to demonstrate that a virus gives off specific scents," he said.

"This technique will be implemented with a lot of pathologies in the future," he predicts.

"Unfortunately, we should expect pathologies that could be even worse than Covid."


ERBIL, Iraq — An explosives-packed drone slammed into Iraq's Erbil airport in the first reported use of such a weapon against a base used by US-led coalition troops in the country, officials said on Thursday.

There were no casualties in the strike on the capital of northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region late Wednesday, although it did cause damage to a building in the military part of the airport.

It comes after around 20 bomb and rocket attacks blamed on pro-Iran Shiite armed groups against facilities used by coalition troops or diplomats in Iraq since US President Joe Biden took office in January.

The attacks have mostly been claimed by shadowy Shiite armed groups aligned with Iran who are demanding the Biden administration set a pullout date for Iraq as it has for Afghanistan.

"A drone packed with TNT targeted a coalition base at Erbil airport," the Kurdish region's interior ministry said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which caused an explosion heard across Arbil.

But a shadowy pro-Iranian group calling itself Awliyaa al-Dam (Guardians of Blood), which claimed a previous attack on the same airport in February, hailed the strike on the messaging app Telegram.

In the February attack, more than a dozen rockets targeted the military complex inside the airport, killing an Iraqi civilian and a foreign contractor working with US-led troops.

Washington -- which has promised to withdraw the troops it deployed in support of Baghdad's successful fightback against the Daesh group but has resisted setting a date -- said it was "outraged" by the latest violence.

"The Iraqi people have suffered for far too long from this kind of violence and violation of their sovereignty," State Department spokesman Ned Price tweeted.

'Dangerous escalation' 

Leading Kurdish politician, ex-foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, explicitly blamed pro-Iranian "militia" for the attack.

"It seems the same militia who targeted the airport two months ago are at it again," Zebari tweeted. "This is a clear & dangerous escalation."

A senior US defence official told AFP that while Wednesday's strike marked the first use of a drone to target US troops inside Iraq, Iran's allies in the country had already shown they had the technology.

Washington has said a January drone attack on the Saudi capital Riyadh was carried out from southern Iraq on behalf of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

"The Iranian-backed militias have drones now with a four and a half metre wingspan," the defence official said.

"It's an Iranian-made CAS-04 which we've already seen weaponised by the Houthis against Saudi."

The official said the technology was constantly being improved.

"They now have the capacity for a rocket-assisted launch. The range is 1,200-1,500 kilometres if they add fuel tanks to it.

"They can even be loaded onto a ship from [the Iraqi port of] Basra and brought even closer to target. These can be pre-programmed with a GPS destination."

Analysts said the use of drones offered a new way to penetrate US defences.

"Suicide drones are particularly useful in these types of hits as they can avoid counter rocket, artillery and mortar systems," said Hamdi Malik, associate fellow at the Washington Institute.

Pro-Iran groups have been ratcheting up their rhetoric, vowing to ramp up attacks to force out the "occupying" US forces, and there have been almost daily attacks on coalition supply convoys across the mainly Shiite south.

Earlier Wednesday, two roadside bombs exploded as convoys passed through the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Diwaniyah, security sources said.

The United States last week committed to withdraw all remaining combat forces from Iraq, although the two countries did not set a timeline for what would be a second US withdrawal since the 2003 invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.

The announcement came as the Biden administration resumed a "strategic dialogue" with the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi, who is seen as too close to Washington by pro-Iranian groups.


VIENNA — Diplomats said on Thursday that the latest talks in Vienna to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal were positive despite fresh tensions over Tehran's announcement that it was preparing to ramp up uranium enrichment in response to an attack on a facility it blamed on arch-foe Israel.

The latest round of diplomatic negotiations aimed at ensuring the US's return to the accord lasted for roughly two hours on Thursday afternoon, with Russia's ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeting afterwards that the "general impression is positive".

The talks comprised delegations from the remaining parties to the deal following the US exit -- Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and Iran.

There had been fears that developments in recent days could cast a pall over the talks, with a European diplomat telling AFP ahead of the meeting that Iran's announcement that it would enrich uranium up to 60 per cent "puts pressure on everyone".

The move would take Iran closer to the 90 per cent purity level needed for use in a nuclear weapon.

Tehran says the enrichment move is a response to Israel's "nuclear terrorism" after an explosion on Sunday knocked out power at its Natanz enrichment plant.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement, but public radio reports in the country said it was a sabotage operation by the Mossad spy agency, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

'Ready to advance' 

Despite the latest developments on the ground, the chair of the talks, EU diplomat Enrique Mora, also struck an upbeat note at the end of Thursday's meeting.

He tweeted that participants had been "ready to advance... despite very challenging events and announcements over the past days".

Another diplomatic source said there had been "no big problems" at the talks, which is now expected to be followed by fresh meetings of experts to discuss possible measures to be taken by Washington and Tehran on sanctions lifting and nuclear issues.

The head of the Iranian delegation, Abbas Araghchi, was more cautious at the end of Thursday's meeting.

According to a statement from Iran's foreign ministry, Araghchi stressed that Tehran wanted to avoid the talks "dragging on" and that they had to "take place in a well-defined framework and within an acceptable time period".

He also stated that the planned rise in enrichment levels was in order to "meet some of the country's medical needs".

Brussels has rejected this argument, with EU external affairs spokesperson Peter Stano saying there was "no credible or plausible civilian justification" for the move.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Wednesday that the announcement on uranium "calls into question Iran's seriousness with regard to the nuclear talks".

His Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif retorted on Twitter that "Iran's 'seriousness of purpose' in pursuing diplomacy was tested in the three years since Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord".

"Iran -- by remaining in the deal -- passed with flying colors," he said, accusing US President Joe Biden of continuing the "maximum pressure" policy towards Iran followed by his predecessor Donald Trump.

Trump dramatically withdrew from the deal -- known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- in 2018 and went on to re-impose sanctions against Iran, prompting Tehran to retaliate by exceeding the accord's limits on its nuclear activity.

'Humiliating attack' 

The events of the past few days have "reminded both parties that the status quo is a lose-lose situation", and have "added urgency" to the Vienna talks, said Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group think tank.

"It is clear that the more the diplomatic process drags on, the higher the risk that it gets derailed by saboteurs and those acting in bad faith," Vaez added.

In the meantime, the European diplomat said that Tehran is reducing its "breakout time" -- the time needed to acquire the fissile material necessary for the manufacture of a bomb.

Under the JCPOA, Iran had committed to keep enrichment limited to 3.67 per cent, though it stepped this up to 20 per cent in January.

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said its inspectors visited the site at Natanz for "verification and monitoring activities" on Wednesday, and that Iran had "almost completed preparations" to enrich uranium to 60 per cent purity.

"It was unrealistic to expect Iran not to respond to such a humiliating attack at the heart of its nuclear programme," the ICG's Vaez said.

"But the only thing that in the past two decades has effectively curtailed Iran's nuclear programme has been diplomacy, not sanctions or sabotage."

TEHRAN — Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the decision to boost uranium enrichment to 60 per cent was a response to arch-foe Israel's "nuclear terrorism" against its Natanz facility.

Tehran starting up advanced centrifuges and producing more highly refined uranium "is a response to your malice", Rouhani said in a message aimed at Israel.

"What you did was nuclear terrorism," he said, referring to a blast early Sunday that knocked out electricity at its main nuclear facility in central Iran. "What we do is legal."

Tehran's announcement of stepped-up enrichment has cast a shadow over talks in Vienna aimed at salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that then US president Donald Trump abandoned almost three years ago.

The European parties to the accord — Britain, France and Germany — Wednesday expressed "grave concern" over Iran's enrichment move while rejecting "all escalatory measures by any actor".

Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia also expressed concern and called on Tehran to "avoid escalation".

‘No alternative'

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its inspectors visited the Natanz enrichment plant on Wednesday.

“IAEA inspectors are continuing their verification and monitoring activities in Iran, and today have been at the Natanz enrichment site,” it said.

The Natanz attack unleashed a “dangerous spiral”, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted.

Zarif warned US President Joe Biden the situation could only be contained by lifting sanctions Trump imposed on Iran from 2018.

“No alternative. Not much time,” he added.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement but public radio reports in the country said it was a sabotage operation by the Mossad spy agency, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, tweeted that preparatory steps to allow enrichment to higher purity had started and that “we expect to accumulate the product next week” from centrifuges at Natanz.

The step will bring Iran closer to the 90 per cent purity threshold for military use and shorten its potential “breakout time” to build an atomic bomb — a goal the Islamic republic denies it is seeking.

Israel has consistently vowed it will stop Iran from ever building an atomic bomb, an eventuality it regards as an existential threat.

Iran has also never minced words when it comes to Israel. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2018 reaffirmed Tehran’s long-held position that Israel is “a malignant cancerous tumour” that must “be removed and eradicated”.

Israel, the only country in the region believed to have nuclear weapons, is strongly opposed to Biden’s efforts to revive what it regards as a flawed nuclear agreement between Iran and the UN Security Council’s five permanent members plus Germany.

The accord, agreed when Biden was vice president to Barack Obama, promised Tehran relief from punishing sanctions in return for agreeing to limits on its nuclear programme.

The United States said on Tuesday it stood by its ally Israel but remained committed to the Iran talks despite Tehran’s enrichment plan.

Rouhani asserted that Israel aimed to deprive Iran of its leverage during the Vienna talks, saying: “You want our hands to be empty during negotiations, but we will go there with fuller hands.”

Iran opted for more advanced centrifuges and higher-level enrichment so that Israel “would understand that you cannot stop us” from using nuclear technology, he said.

‘Very provocative’

Rouhani also again pledged that Iran’s nuclear activity would “certainly be peaceful” and remain under IAEA supervision.

Iran has said it requires the more highly enriched uranium for medical purposes. Gharibabadi said the new material “will improve significantly both the quality and quantity of radiopharmaceutical products”.

Under the nuclear deal, Iran had committed to keep enrichment to 3.67 per cent, though it had stepped this up to 20 percent in January.

Robert Kelley, a former IAEA director of inspections, described the leap to 60 per cent as “very provocative”.

Iran had greatly increased the number and performance of its centrifuges, but “there is not much evidence” it had accumulated the many other key elements for developing a nuclear bomb, he said.

Analyst Henry Rome argued that Iran’s moves seek to avoid it “appearing weak as nuclear negotiations resume”.

“For now, Iran is building leverage, not a bomb,” said Rome, a specialist on Iran for the Washington-based Eurasia Group consultancy.