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Weakened Iran could pursue nuclear weapon, White House’s Sullivan says
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump’s team on the risk, Reuters reported.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel’s assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
“It’s no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, ‘Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now … Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine’,” Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief, read the report.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
“It’s a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It’s a risk that I’m personally briefing the incoming team on,” Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with U.S. ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran’s oil industry.
Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran’s “weakened state.”
“Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran’s nuclear ambitions for the long term,” he said.
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Seven Afghan migrants killed in traffic accident in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan
Seven Afghan migrants have been killed after a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants collided with a fuel-carrying vehicle in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province.
According to the human rights organization HalVash, the accident occurred on Friday in the Sarbaz area of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Siyavash Mohbi, the head of Iran’s traffic police in Sistan and Baluchestan, said the Afghan nationals had entered Iran illegally.
He added that nine other people were injured in the incident.
Mohbi attributed the accident to the negligence of the driver of the vehicle carrying the migrants.
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OIC to hold Afghanistan Contact Group meeting on sidelines of UN General Assembly
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Afghan official meets Iranian oil minister to discuss energy cooperation
Ahmad Jan Bilal, General Director of State-Owned Corporations, met with Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad during a visit to Iran to discuss expanding cooperation in the oil and gas sector.
Bilal, accompanied by Mohammad Nasir Rahimi, chief executive of the Afghan state-owned Oil and Gas Corporation, held talks with the Iranian minister on supplying Afghanistan with its oil and gas needs, technical and vocational training, and joint cooperation in oil and gas exploration.
Bilal and his delegation also visited the Iranian Oil Ministry’s research center and oil refineries in Tehran, where they reviewed the facilities’ technical and professional activities and capabilities.
The Iranian side expressed readiness for comprehensive cooperation, necessary coordination and implementation of joint projects in the areas discussed.
At the end of the meeting, both sides introduced joint technical teams tasked with coordinating and following up on the necessary measures to implement the agreed areas of cooperation.
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