Foreign minister James Cleverly warns Iran’s nuclear programme ‘more advanced than ever before’
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Secretary of State James Cleverly warned today that the threat from Iran’s nuclear program is “more advanced than ever before.”
At the Manama Dialogue international security conference in Bahrain, the British Foreign Secretary warned of Russian and Iranian threats to security in the Middle East.
Cleverly also spoke about Russia’s use of Iranian-supplied drones used to attack civilians in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army has provided this month proof that Russia used Iranian Mohajer-6 spy drones, which could fire missiles, and analyzes “kamikaze” drones of possible Iranian origin that implode on impact.
The foreign minister said: “Today the Iranian nuclear program is more advanced than ever before and the regime has resorted to selling to Russia the armed drones that are currently killing civilians in Ukraine.
“As their people demonstrate against decades of oppression, Iran’s rulers spread bloodshed and destruction throughout the region and even in Kiev.
“Britain is determined to work with our friends to counter the Iranian threat, ban the smuggling of conventional weapons and prevent the regime from having nuclear weapons.”
James Cleverly speaks at the House of Commons in London, UK on November 16, 2022
Iranians living in Ukraine are protesting the Iranian government and drone deliveries to Russia
A Shahed 129 drone in Tehran, 2016, celebrating the Islamic Revolution
Iran and Russia have a complex historical relationship, but today share a military and economic alliance motivated by mutual sanctions by Western countries.
Iran has been developing nuclear technology since 1957, initially backed by the US’Atoms for peaceprogram that provided nuclear technology adopters in exchange for a commitment to use it for civilian purposes only.
Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful and enriches uranium to levels consistent with the fuel needed for power plants.
But on Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned Iran for “insufficient cooperation” in its investigation of traces of uranium found in undeclared locations.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at a press conference on Wednesday that there is “a mass of activity that we know nothing about.”
In 2015, Iran and several world powers signed an agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from harsh sanctions.
President Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018, though both countries have since expressed their intention to get back the original deal.
Cleverly warned in Bahrain on Saturday that Iranian weapons pose a threat to security in the Middle East and beyond, pointing to the Iranian-made attack drones used by Russia to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure as an example of its influence.
“Weapons supplied by Iran threaten the whole region,” the Braintree MP told the Manama Dialogue.
Earlier this month, US officials warned that Iran was preparing to send about 1,000 additional weapons, including drones and missiles, to Russia to support its war, though Iran has previously denied supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum has revealed that Iranian intelligence agents have targeted individuals in the UK they consider enemies of the regime.
He said the security agency had identified at least 10 such potential threats since January, including “ambitions” to kidnap or even kill.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in conversation with the German foreign minister about Iran’s continued unwillingness to commit to the terms of the JCPOA nuclear deal
On Wednesday, Canada sanctioned Iranian drone makers “key to the regime’s continued activities aimed at destabilizing international peace and security.”
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (R) meets with Russian Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev (L) in Tehran on November 9, 2022
Earlier this week, the UK imposed a new round of sanctions against Iranian officials in connection with the crackdown on protests that erupted following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, after she was detained for allegedly breaking Islamic rules of the country had not followed. dress code.
Ms. Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13 by the Iranian morality police and beaten. She suffered a heart attack while in custody and died.
The Iranian regime has faced numerous protests since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, which replaced the US-affiliated and secular Pahlavi dynasty with an authoritarian theocracy under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini.
On Thursday, anti-regime protesters set fire to Khomeini’s childhood home in western Markazi province.