Iran ‘must stop and eliminate’ nuclear enrichment, says US envoy Witkoff
Washington, DC – United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said that Tehran “must stop and eliminate” its nuclear enrichment programme to reach a deal with Washington, seemingly raising the bar of US demands ahead of another round of talks with Iranian officials. Witkoff’s remarks on Tuesday appear to contradict his suggestion a day earlier that the US would be satisfied with Iran enriching uranium at a low level to produce energy. “Any final arrangement must set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East – meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program,” Witkoff said in a statement on Tuesday. “It is imperative for the world that we create a tough, fair deal that will endure, and that is what President Trump has asked me to do.” Witkoff’s official title is special envoy to the Middle East, but US President Donald Trump has given him several high-stakes responsibilities beyond the region, including spearheading talks with Russia as well as Iran. Advertisement The US envoy held a round of negotiations with Iranian officials and was in direct contact with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oman on Saturday. Further talks are scheduled for April 19. Later on Tuesday, the State Department also said that the US is seeking to “eliminate” Iran’s uranium enrichment. Moreover, the White House said Trump spoke to Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said and stressed “the need for Iran to end its nuclear programme through negotiations”. ‘They do not need to enrich past 3.67 percent’ Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Witkoff suggested that the US wants Iran to cap its uranium enrichment, a process of changing the atomic composition of uranium to produce nuclear fuel. When enriched at 90 percent, uranium can be used for weapons. “They do not need to enrich past 3.67 percent,” Witkoff said. “In some circumstances, they’re at 60 percent. In other circumstances, 20 percent. That cannot be. And you do not need to run — as they claim — a civil nuclear programme where you’re enriching past 3.67 percent, so this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment programme.” That assertion garnered criticism from conservative hawks who have been calling for abolishing the Iranian enrichment programme altogether. Tehran and Washington have gone through talks and tensions over the nuclear programme for decades. Successive US administration have said that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is one of their top foreign policy priorities. Advertisement In 2015, the US was a key party in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a deal that saw Iran scale back its uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against its economy. The US administration of then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat, hailed that deal as a means of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. But Trump, a Republican, nixed the deal in 2018 during his first term. Since then, the US has been piling sanctions on Iran, and Tehran has escalated its nuclear programme in response. After returning to the White House for a second term this year, Trump re-launched his so-called maximum pressure campaign against Iran, with the aim of choking off Iranian oil exports, particularly to China. During his interview with Fox, Witkoff implied that the Trump administration is seeking concessions from Iran beyond the JCPOA, particularly over its missile programme. He said Washington is seeking “verification on weaponisation” from Iran, including “the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there”. However, his statement on Tuesday seems to indicate the US would like to see all uranium enrichment in Iran cease. While Iranian officials have been saying for decades that the country is not seeking a nuclear bomb, they have also stressed that their country has a right to use and create nuclear energy. Tensions between the two countries have been particularly high over the last month. In mid-March, Trump threatened to retaliate against Iran should one of its regional allies, the Houthi group in Yemen, continue its attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea. Advertisement “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social. Trump also indicated US could consider military action if the current round of nuclear talks falls through. “If the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,” he said last week. Still, the US president has also stressed that he prefers a diplomatic deal to ensure that Tehran never acquires a nuclear weapon. ‘Negotiations may or may not yield results’ On Monday, Trump called for speedy negotiations to resolve the issue and again threatened to take “harsh” action against Tehran. With the talks under way, foreign policy hawks have cautioned Trump against drawn-out negotiations or entering a deal that resembles the JCPOA. Last week, nine Republican Congress members — including Claudia Tenney of New York and Barry Loudermilk of Georgia — penned a letter to Trump calling for “permanently stripping Tehran of the ability to enrich uranium”. “The regime in Tehran has mastered the art of delay and deception, using diplomatic negotiations as a shield while advancing its nuclear ambitions,” the lawmakers wrote. “We cannot afford another failed agreement that enables Iran to play for time. Nor can we repeat the mistakes of the past by permitting Iran to enrich uranium or maintain the capability to ever reconstitute its nuclear program.” Advertisement Israel — the US’s top ally in the region — is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal. Iranian officials have also expressed doubt about a new deal, noting that Tehran lived up to its commitments under the JCPOA while the US abandoned the agreement. “The negotiations may or may not yield results,” Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
France expels 12 Algerian officials as tensions escalate
Move comes after Algeria expelled French diplomats, following France’s arrest of an Algerian consular official linked to an alleged kidnap. France says it will expel 12 Algerian diplomatic and consular staff members and has recalled its ambassador from Algiers, deepening a crisis that threatens to unravel months of attempted reconciliation between the two countries. The announcement on Tuesday comes a day after Algeria ordered 12 French diplomats to leave within 48 hours. Algiers announced the expulsions after French prosecutors indicted three Algerian nationals, including a consular official, over the alleged kidnapping of a prominent government critic in Paris last year. The activist, Amir Boukhors – better known to his more than one million TikTok followers as “Amir DZ” – was granted asylum in France in 2023. He was abducted in a Paris suburb in April last year and released the next day. French authorities said the three suspects are also facing charges of “terrorist” conspiracy. Strained relations It is the first time France has detained an employee of the Algerian consulate, marking a sharp escalation in tensions between Paris and the former French colony. Advertisement French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday that the expulsions were directly linked to the arrests. The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs noted that Algeria’s move, if carried out, would mark the first expulsion of French diplomats from the country since its independence in 1962. Algeria, which has issued nine international arrest warrants for Boukhors on charges including fraud and “terrorism”, is demanding his extradition. The escalation comes despite recent overtures between the two countries. Just a week earlier, Barrot met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and declared bilateral relations had returned to normal after a period of simmering tensions. French President Emmanuel Macron’s backing of Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed region of Western Sahara last year sparked outrage in Algiers. The jailing of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal by an Algerian court last month only added to the strain with Macron calling for his release. Adblock test (Why?)
Does Trump want a Gaza ceasefire before his Middle East trip?
Parsing through Donald Trump’s Middle East agenda with Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations. US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama want the same things in the Middle East, argues Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations: “disentangling the US from its foreign adventures”. Cook tells host Steve Clemons that Trump wants a deal with Iran, and may be pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza before his proposed trip to the Gulf region next month. There is a “trust deficit” between Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, adds Cook, and this explains why Trump told Netanyahu to “be reasonable” regarding Syria and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Adblock test (Why?)
Mark Zuckerberg back in US court amid push to break up Meta
The last time the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was able to break up a major corporation was more than four decades ago, with the split-up of AT&T. The blockbuster antitrust case against Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — has kicked off in Washington, DC, the United States. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stand for the second straight day today. The landmark case accuses Meta of taking over Instagram and WhatsApp before they could become competitors. The suit is the culmination of a nearly six-year investigation into whether the social media giant broke US competition laws in acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp. At stake is the future of Meta’s $1.4 trillion advertising business and the prospect of having to spin off its hugely popular services into separate companies. Zuckerberg takes political strategy The federal court trial in Washington has dashed Zuckerberg’s hopes that the return of US President Donald Trump to the White House would see the government let up on the enforcement of antitrust law against Big Tech. Zuckerberg, the world’s third-richest person, has made repeated visits to the White House as he tried to persuade the president to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial. Advertisement As part of his lobbying efforts, Zuckerberg contributed to Trump’s inauguration fund and overhauled content moderation policies. He also purchased a $23m mansion in Washington in what was seen as a bid to spend more time close to the centre of political power. But the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has shown no interest in letting up its push against Meta. Trump-appointed FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in an interview on Fox Business that the agency would not let a Meta-like monopoly arise again. Ferguson’s push is not a far cry from the previous FTC Chairwoman, Lina Khan, who under former US President Joe Biden was known to be tough on Big Tech. The case could see the Facebook owner forced to divest Instagram and WhatsApp, which have grown into global powerhouses since their buyouts. The suit was originally filed in December 2020, during the first Trump administration, and all eyes were on whether the Republican president, on his return to the White House, would ask the FTC to stand down. More than a decade of acquisitions Central to the case is Facebook’s 2012 $1bn purchase of Instagram — then a small but promising photo-sharing app that now boasts two billion active users. An email from Zuckerberg cited by the FTC showed him depicting Instagram’s emergence as “really scary” and adding that this was “why we might want to consider paying a lot of money for this”. Boxes of documents pertaining to Meta’s acquisitions arrive on the first day of a historic antitrust trial in Washington, DC, Monday, April 14, 2025 [Nathan Howard /AP Photo] In his first day of testimony on Monday, Zuckerberg downplayed those exchanges as early talk before plans for Instagram came together. Advertisement But the FTC argues that Meta’s $19bn WhatsApp acquisition in 2014 followed the same pattern, with Zuckerberg fearing the messaging app could either transform into a social network or be purchased by a competitor. Meta’s defence attorneys counter that substantial investments transformed these acquisitions into the blockbusters they are today. They also highlight that Meta’s apps are free for users and face fierce competition. FTC attorney Daniel Matheson said in opening remarks on Monday that “they decided that competition is too hard and it would be easier to buy out their rivals than to compete with them.” Meta pushes back Meta attorney Mark Hansen countered in his first salvo that “acquisitions to improve and grow an acquired firm” are not unlawful in the US, saying that is what Facebook did. A key part of the courtroom battle will be how the FTC defines Meta’s market. The US government argues that Facebook and Instagram are dominant players in apps that provide a way to connect with family and friends, a category that does not include TikTok and YouTube. But Meta disagrees. “The evidence at trial will show what every 17-year-old in the world knows: Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp compete with Chinese-owned TikTok, YouTube, X, iMessage and many others,” a spokesperson told the news agency Reuters. If the FTC is ultimately successful in its efforts to break up Meta, it would be the first time in 40 years that the agency would have forced a corporate breakup. In the early 1980s, the FTC forced telecommunications company AT&T to split apart. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Syria’s al-Sharaa meets with Qatar’s Emir in Doha
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani on his first official visit to Doha.
The human cost of two years of war in Sudan
[unable to retrieve full-text content] After two years of war in Sudan, millions of people are on the brink of starvation.
Severe sandstorms engulf southern Iraq
NewsFeed A severe sandstorm blanketed southern Iraq on Monday, causing airports to close down and sending over 3,500 people to hospitals. Experts warn sandstorms are becoming more frequent in Iraq due to climate change and desertification. Published On 15 Apr 202515 Apr 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Trump-China trade war: Which US companies could be worst hit
From Apple to Nvidia, United States tech companies have received a temporary exemption from President Donald Trump’s sky-high tariffs. For other businesses, the damage imposed by existing levies on Chinese exports may prove fatal. While Trump stepped back from the edge for most countries – announcing a 90-day pause on the bulk of his “reciprocal” tariffs on Wednesday – he doubled down on China, eventually increasing import taxes on its goods to 145 percent. Trump has pitched his protectionist agenda as essential for reviving US industry. However, many US firms have grown used to cheap imports from China. For many of them, prices will rise and profits will fall. Beijing has also responded to Trump’s moves with retaliatory tariffs of its own, now at 125 percent. US exports to China, and agricultural products in particular, will be hit badly by China’s blanket levy. Here is the state of trade ties between the world’s two largest economies and the US companies that could be worst affected: Advertisement State of US-China trade Despite growing tensions between the US and China, Washington and Beijing remain major trading partners. According to data from the Office of the US Trade Representative, the total goods trade between the US and China stood at $582.4bn in 2024. After Canada and Mexico, China is America’s third largest trading partner. US imports from China totalled $438.9bn while its exports the other way tallied in at $143.5bn. The upshot is that the US trade deficit with China was $295.4bn last year, bigger than for any other country. On Friday, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was increasing tariffs on US goods from 84 percent to 125 percent, reiterating that Beijing would “fight to the end” shortly after Washington raised US duties on Chinese imports to 145 percent. Late that same day, the Trump administration announced temporary exemptions for smartphones, solar panels and other electronic products like semiconductor chips – most of which are made in China – from Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, which he has said are meant to level the playing field with trading partners who impose duties on US goods and run trade surpluses with the US. China’s government welcomed the exemptions and urged Trump to go further. However, the US president has said those products will ultimately be subject to their own different levy. As of now, they are still subject to the 20 percent tariffs that Trump imposed on all Chinese goods before April 2. In the meantime, companies will be forced to pass down at least some of Trump’s tariffs onto consumers to try to preserve their profit margins. That will result in higher inflation and lower business output. Advertisement According to an analysis from the Yale Budget Lab, tariffs could cause 740,000 people to lose their jobs across the US by the end of 2025. But which sectors will be most exposed to these trade disruptions? Textiles and apparel The price of Nike trainers, Levi jeans and Gap T-shirts will almost certainly rise in the US as tariffs undermine the Asian factory hubs that underpin the global clothing industry. In 2024, factories in China, Vietnam and Indonesia made 95 percent of all Nike footwear. Trump has already introduced 145 percent tariffs on China while Vietnam and Indonesia currently face 10 percent tariffs, which could go up in July if they don’t succeed in striking a trade deal with Washington by then. Vietnam, in particular, is seen as a major indirect source of Chinese imports, both by rerouting Chinese goods through Vietnamese ports and by using Chinese parts in its exports to the US. Gap is also highly exposed to production processes in Vietnam. Since Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff announcement on April 2, Gap shares have fallen by 14 percent. For Nike, it’s 14.7 percent. Elsewhere, Levi’s stock price has plunged by 10.6 percent. Smartphones and semiconductors On Friday night, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice exempting some technology products from the tariffs placed on Chinese goods. The CBP listed 20 product categories, including computers, smartphones and automatic data processors. It also included semiconductor equipment, memory chips and flat panel displays. The exemptions were a welcome relief to major technology firms, including Apple, which relies heavily on Chinese manufacturing. But even with all post-April 2 tariffs on them waived for now, these electronic goods still face 20 percent tariffs that Trump had imposed on them before April 2. Advertisement Trump has also said the exemptions are temporary, and new tariffs might be coming soon. Additionally, on Monday he announced an investigation into the national security implications of importing semiconductors and chip-making equipment, injecting new insecurities for electronics firms. Supply chains in general are hard to move. For electronic goods, they are particularly difficult to replace – lining up industrial processes across different locations requires time and investment. Bradley Saunders, a North America analyst at Capital Economics, told Al Jazeera that technology goods assembly processes have been “built up over years. … Markets have found the most efficient supply chains that they can.” For now, Apple outsources most of its assembly operations to China. Smartphone companies are not alone. Almost 90 percent of gaming consoles sold in the US by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been shipped in from China. Elsewhere, Nvidia relies heavily on components from China. The technology giant relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to manufacture its cutting-edge graphics cards and AI chips. Apple and Nvidia led a broad advance across US stock markets after Trump announced his recent exemptions. According to Saunders, any new tariffs could hit US technology sectors “hard”. US agricultural exporters Trump’s first trade war with China from 2018 to 2019 resulted in billions of dollars of lost revenue for American farmers. “The agriculture industry always tends to lose out in trade wars,” Saunders said. Advertisement He pointed out that “about 15 percent” of US farm exports went to China in 2024. The soya bean sector, in particular, stands to lose because China is its largest export
Jordan says it thwarts plot that threatened national security
BREAKINGBREAKING, Sixteen arrested as authorities say they have foiled a plot that involved explosives and a drone factory. Jordan says it has arrested 16 people, thwarting a plot that threatened national security and that involved manufacturing and importing rockets illegally, explosives and a drone production site. In a statement on Tuesday, the General Intelligence Department said it uncovered plans to recruit and train “operatives” in Jordan and abroad, without providing more details. A drone factory was also found, according to the statement that was released on state media. It added that authorities made the arrests after “close intelligence monitoring since 2021”. In the past, Jordan said it thwarted several alleged plots by members of ISIL (ISIS). These included plans for a series of attacks on security installations as well as civilian infrastructures. This is a breaking story. More to come… Adblock test (Why?)
Pakistan police bus bombing kills three
NewsFeed Three police officers were killed and 18 others injured in a remote-controlled bomb attack on a police bus in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, officials said. The blast struck in Mastung as the vehicle was traveling from Kalat to Quetta. Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency there for decades. No group has claimed responsibility. Published On 15 Apr 202515 Apr 2025 Adblock test (Why?)