Iran & The Gulf

Spate of recent incidents have highlighted the "apparent ease" with which Israeli intelligence can penetrate Iran's most sensitive locations.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said the talks were moving forward despite difficulties but warned Tehran would halt the negotiations if faced with "unreasonable demands" or time wasting.

Brig. Gen. Muhammad Hussein-Zada Hejazi, did not die of a heart attack as Iranian authorities initially claimed on Sunday, rather was poisoned by Israel and the United States with radioactive materials, possibly in Iraq or Syria, an Iranian source tells Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida.

"Practical solutions are still far away, but we have moved from general words to agreeing on specific steps towards the goal," says Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which also starts talks with Iran aimed at obtaining explanations on the origin of uranium traces found at undeclared locations.

Death of Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hosseinzadeh Hejazi a serious blow to the elite Revolutionary Guards unit, which has found it hard to fill the vacuum left by Qassem Soleimani's death.

According to information received by Israel, the six world powers will not require Iran to destroy the new advanced centrifuges it has built, rather just disconnect them.

According to Iranian state television, "Reza Karimi" had visited Ethiopia, Kenya, the Netherlands, Qatar, Romania, Turkey, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier this week, Iranian authorities claimed they could enrich to 90% "if they wanted," and called to step up enrichment following a suspected cyberattack at the Natanz nuclear reactor.

There is speculation that Iran may have been behind it, and specifically the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. 

Press TV, the Iranian state television’s English-language arm, separately said that the IAEA had been informed of the move. It said the enrichment would begin as of Wednesday.