A view shows the building of Norway’s central bank (Norges Bank) in Oslo, Norway, June 23, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Victoria Klesty

Norway‘s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, will exclude another six Israeli companies with connections to the West Bank and Gaza from its portfolio following an ethics review, it said on Monday.

The $2 trillion wealth fund did not name the companies it had decided to exclude but said they would be made public, along with specific reasons, once the divestments were completed.

One possibility is they include Israel’s five largest banks, which have been under review by the fund‘s ethical watchdog.

Separately, the fund said it had also sold stakes in six other companies following a decision last week to only hold stakes in Israeli companies that are part of the fund‘s benchmark index.

As of Aug. 14, the fund had 19 billion crowns ($1.86 billion) invested in 38 companies listed in Israel, the fund‘s operator Norges Bank Investment Management said, a reduction of 23 companies since June 30.

“More companies could be excluded,” Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.

ETHICS REVIEW

The fund launched an urgent review earlier this month after reports that it had built a stake in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel’s armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets.

The reports spurred a fresh debate about the fund‘s investments in Israel and the Palestinian territories ahead of elections on Sept. 8, with some parties calling for the fund to divest from all Israeli companies, a step the government has ruled out.

Norway‘s parliament in June rejected a proposal for the fund to divest from all companies with activities in the Palestinian territories.

“This debate helps sharpen our practices,” said Stoltenberg.

Critics say only a complete withdrawal from investing in Israeli companies would protect the fund against possible ethical breaches.

Stoltenberg said that, from now on, the ethics watchdog and NBIM would have more frequent and faster exchanges of information to more rapidly identify problematic companies.

Ethical exclusions from the fund are based on recommendations from the fund‘s watchdog, though NBIM can also divest from companies if it assesses that a company poses too much of a risk to the fund, whether the risk is ethical or not.

“With more exchanges of information between the Council on Ethics and Norges Bank, it is possible that there could be more divestments of that kind in future,” said Stoltenberg.

Last Monday, the fund announced it was terminating contracts with all three external asset managers who handled some of its Israeli investments.

($1 = 10.1890 Norwegian crowns)

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 14, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran will continue talks with the UN nuclear watchdog and the two sides will probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Monday.

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have been unable to access Iran‘s nuclear sites since Israel and the US bombed them during a 12-day war in June, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain his top priority.

“We had talks [with the IAEA] last week. These talks will continue and there will be another round of talks between Iran and the agency probably in the coming days,” Baghaei said.

Tehran has accused the IAEA of effectively paving the way for the Israel-US attacks with a report on May 31 that led the IAEA‘s 35-nation Board of Governors to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

The Islamic Republic has long denied Western suspicions of a covert effort to develop nuclear weapons capability, saying it remains committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty that mandates peaceful uses of atomic energy for signatories.

“The level of our relations [with the IAEA] has changed after the events that took place, we do not deny that. However, our relations…remain direct,” Baghaei said during a televised weekly news conference.

Last month, Iran enacted a law passed by parliament suspending cooperation with the IAEA. The law stipulates that any future inspections of Iranian nuclear sites needs approval by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.

US Ambassador to Turkey and US special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack speaks after meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, in Beirut, Lebanon July 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Top US envoy Thomas Barrack said on Monday Israel should comply with a plan under which Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah would be disarmed by the end of the year in exchange for a halt to Israel‘s military operations in Lebanon.

The plan sets out a phased roadmap for armed groups to hand in their arsenals as Israel‘s military halts ground, air, and sea operations and withdraws troops from Lebanon‘s south.

Lebanon‘s cabinet approved the plan‘s objectives earlier this month despite Iran-backed Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm, and Barrack said it was now Israel‘s turn to cooperate.

“There’s always a step-by-step approach, but I think the Lebanese government has done their part. They’ve taken the first step. Now what we need is Israel to comply with that equal handshake,” Barrack told reporters in Lebanon after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Barrack described the cabinet decree as a “Lebanese decision that requires Israel‘s cooperation” and said the United States was “in the process of now discussing with Israel what their position is” but provided no further details.

Under phase 1 of the plan, which was seen by Reuters, the Lebanese government would issue a decision committing to Hezbollah’s full disarmament by the end of the year and Israel would cease military operations in Lebanese territory.

But Israel has continued strikes against Lebanon in the weeks since the cabinet approved the plan.

In a written statement after his meeting with Barrack, Aoun said that “other parties” now needed to commit to the roadmap’s contents.

Calls for Hezbollah to disarm have mounted since a war with Israel last year killed 5,000 of the group’s fighters and much of its top brass and left swathes of southern Lebanon in ruins.

But the group has resisted the pressure, refusing to discuss its arsenal until Israel ends its strikes and withdraws troops from southern Lebanon.

On Friday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem raised the specter of civil war, warning there would be “no life” in Lebanon should the state attempt to confront or eliminate the group.