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Iran Threatens to Withdraw From Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Boosts Uranium Enrichment After IAEA Censure
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 18, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran has threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), an international accord meant to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, if European powers move to reinstate economic sanctions — a step Tehran condemned as “legally baseless and politically reckless,” warning it would endanger global security.
In a formal letter to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Saeed Iravani, reiterated Tehran’s warning that the country would take “proportionate responses” to what it described as escalating foreign pressure.
Iran’s threats come as the United Kingdom, France, and Germany — collectively known as the E3 — along with the United States, put forward a resolution condemning Tehran’s nuclear non-compliance at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting in Vienna this week.
Based on a recent IAEA report, the motion accuses Iran of failing to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog over alleged “undeclared nuclear activities.” Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the vote was delayed until Thursday due to time constraints.
If adopted, the resolution could lead to the reimposition of UN sanctions by October. These sanctions were originally lifted under the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — which temporarily limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
The IAEA’s latest report also reveals that, alongside numerous other violations, Iran has previously conducted multiple implosion tests — a crucial military capability for developing an atomic bomb.
Iranian officials have rejected the IAEA’s findings as “politically motivated,” blaming Israel for providing the intelligence behind the claims, and accusing the agency of serving US interests in an effort to pressure Tehran during its negotiations with Washington to reach a nuclear deal.
“The Board of Governors’ resolution was mischievous,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a press conference on Thursday. “We will continue our path. Enrichment will go on, and we will not back down from the current trend.”
“Even if they bomb our facilities, our capabilities lie in our minds. Whatever they destroy, we will rebuild,” Pezeshkian continued.
After five rounds of talks between the US and Iran, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results, as the Islamic regime and Washington clash over Tehran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition that US President Donald Trump has publicly rejected.
Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced that Iran will soon present its own nuclear proposal after rejecting a previous offer from Washington.
Although nuclear negotiations appear on the brink of collapse, a sixth round of talks is tentatively scheduled for Sunday in Oman. At the same time, Trump’s 60-day deadline for reaching a nuclear deal expired on Wednesday.
In response to the IAEA resolution, Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), announced the establishment of a third uranium enrichment facility at a secure location, along with a major upgrade to Iran’s centrifuge systems — steps he said would significantly expand the country’s nuclear activities.
“They wrongly believe political pressure can force Iran to retreat from its rightful positions,” Kamalvandi said. “We had already warned that we would adjust our actions accordingly.”
Meanwhile, Major General Hossein Salami, chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — a US-designated terrorist organization — declared that Tehran is fully prepared to confront any act of aggression amid growing threats of military action against the country.
“The enemy sometimes threatens us with military action. We have always said, and we say today, that we stand fully ready for any scenarios, situations, and circumstances,” Salami said.
Iran’s latest threats come as media reports reveal that the US has heightened security at its embassies and military bases across West Asia amid fears of a possible Israeli strike on Tehran.
Trump said on Thursday that an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites “could very well happen,” but he would not call it imminent and said he prefers to avoid conflict with Iran and reach a peaceful solution over its nuclear program.
“I don’t want to say imminent, but it looks like it’s something that could very well happen,” Trump told reporters at a White House event, stressing that Iran could not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.
“I’d love to avoid the conflict,” he said. “Iran’s going to have to negotiate a little bit tougher, meaning they’re going to have to give us something they’re not willing to give us right now.”
Israel views Iran’s nuclear program, which many Western governments believe is ultimately meant to build nuclear weapons, as an existential threat.
Iranian leaders regularly declare their intention to destroy Israel. However, Tehran has claimed its nuclear activities are for peaceful, civilian purposes.
The post Iran Threatens to Withdraw From Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Boosts Uranium Enrichment After IAEA Censure first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Commends Israel for Striking Iranian Nuclear Sites, Says He Gave Tehran ‘Chance to Make a Deal’
US President Trump speaks to the media at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
US President Donald Trump commended Israel for its successful strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and military leaders in social media posts on Truth Social.
“I gave Iran chance after chance to make a deal. I told them, in the strongest of words, to ‘just do it,’ but no matter how hard they tried, no matter how close they got, they just couldn’t get it done,” Trump wrote Friday morning.
Trump warned that Iran will face more attacks in the coming days if Tehran does not strike an agreement to suspend all uranium enrichment efforts.
“Certain Iranian hardliner’s spoke bravely, but they didn’t know what was about to happen. They are all DEAD now, and it will only get worse! There has already been great death and destruction, but there is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end,” Trump continued.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Israel launched a large-scale military operation against Iran, named Operation Rising Lion, targeting key nuclear and military sites across the country. The strikes resulted in the deaths of several high-ranking Iranian officials, including Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Major General Hossein Salami, and two prominent nuclear scientists, Fereydoon Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi. Explosions were reported in Tehran and other provinces, with significant damage to facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, Khondab, and Khorramabad.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the operation as a preemptive measure to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear weapons program. In retaliation, Iran launched over 100 drones at Israel, most of which were intercepted. The United States condemned Iran’s actions and reaffirmed its commitment to Israel’s defense, while distancing itself from the Israeli strikes by saying it was not involved in the operation.
The strikes followed a series of negotiations between the US and Iran since April 2025 aimed at reaching a deal over the latter’s nuclear program, which many Western governments believe is ultimately meant to develop nuclear weapons. Iran claims its nuclear activities are for peaceful, civilina purposes. following a letter from President Donald Trump to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei initiating dialogue.
Despite five rounds of discussions, including meetings in Muscat and Rome, significant differences remained, particularly over Iran’s uranium enrichment levels and the scope of international inspections.
Last month, Trump warned that failure to reach an agreement could lead to severe consequences, emphasizing the urgency of a deal. However, Iran’s leadership expressed skepticism, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei labeling US demands as “outrageous nonsense” and reiterating his opposition to Israel’s existence.
The failure to reach a nuclear agreement has led to heightened tensions in the Middle East, with both sides accusing each other of undermining the diplomatic process.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that the United States did not participate in the planning of the Israeli operation. “This evening, Israel acted independently in its strike on Iran. The United States played no role in the attack, and our foremost priority remains the safety of American personnel in the region,” Rubio said in a statement late Thursday.
However, Trump told Axios om Friday that he believes that the strikes might have improved the chances of the US striking a nuclear deal with Tehran.
“Maybe now they will negotiate seriously,” Trump said.
The post Trump Commends Israel for Striking Iranian Nuclear Sites, Says He Gave Tehran ‘Chance to Make a Deal’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Foreign Infiltration’: Qatar Funnels $1 Billion Into Georgetown University to Grow Influence, New Report Shows
Students, faculty, and others at Georgetown University on March 23, 2025. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.
Georgetown University has received over $1 billion in funding from the Qatari government over the last two decades, according to a new report arguing the money has compromised the institution’s curricula development and positions on major geopolitical issues which bear on the national security of the US.
The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism Policy (ISGAP) on Tuesday released a report titled, “Foreign Infiltration: Georgetown University, Qatar, and the Muslim Brotherhood,” a 132-page document that reveals dozens of examples of ways in which Georgetown’s interests are allegedly conflicted, having been divided between its foreign benefactors, the country in which it was founded in 1789, and even its Catholic heritage.
“The Qatari regime targets Georgetown due to its unrivaled access to current and future leaders. Over two decades, that investment has paid off — embedding Muslim Brotherhood scholars and narratives deep within the American academic and political culture,” Dr. Charles Asher Small, executive director of ISGAP, said in a statement on the report. “This masterful use of soft power is not only about Georgetown. It is how authoritarian regimes are buying access, narrative control, and ideological legitimacy — and too many universities are willing sellers.”
According to the report, the trouble begins with Washington, DC-based Georgetown’s decision to establish a campus on Qatari soil in 2005, the GU-Q located in the country’s Doha Metropolitan Area. The campus has “become a feeder school for the Qatari bureaucracy,” the report explains, enabling a government that has disappeared dissidents, imprisoned sexual minorities without due process, and facilitated the spread of radical jihadist ideologies.
In the US, meanwhile, Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding “minimize the threat of Islamist extremism” while priming students to be amenable to the claims of the anti-Zionist movement, according to ISGAP. The ideological force behind this pedagogy is the Muslim Brotherhood, to which the Qatari government has supplied logistic and financial support.
US lawmakers are currently moving to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an official terrorist organization.
The ISGAP report calls on policymakers to take action now and prevent the university’s becoming any closer to a country whose ideals threaten US interests and ideals.
“It is time to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. As we saw, pro-Hamas antisemitism in the US has moved from rhetoric to outright terrorism on the streets of Washington,” Asher Small said, referring to the recent antisemitic shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers. “Just three miles from the site of the murders outside the Jewish Museum, Georgetown has been the center of a 50-year indoctrination campaign aimed at infiltrating the highest echelons of US society with murderous antisemitism.”
ISGAP chair Natan Sharansky, who is known across the world for his human rights advocacy, added, “Our goal is to protect liberal values and the principles of equality within the American academy, of which higher education is a vital institution of the very foundation of democracy. Sadly, our enemies with their billions understand this only too well.”
ISGAP’s report came out a month after the Middle East Forum released its own report exposing the extent of Qatar’s far-reaching financial entanglements within American institutions, shedding light on what experts described as a coordinated effort to influence US policy making and public opinion in Doha’s favor. The findings showed that Qatar has attempted to expand its soft power in the US by spending $33.4 billion on business and real estate projects, over $6 billion on universities, and $72 million on American lobbyists since 2012.
Georgetown University is not the only elite institution with questionable ties, as previously reported by The Algemeiner.
According to a recent “preliminary” report published by nonprofit watchdog NGO Monitor, Harvard University is linked to anti-Zionist nongovernmental organizations and other entities acting as proxy organizations for terrorist groups that warrant scrutiny and reproach, .
Titled, “Advocacy NGOs in Academic Frameworks: Harvard University Case Study,” the report presented copious evidence that Harvard’s academic centers, including Harvard Law School, have come under the influence of Al-Haq and Addameer — two groups identified by the Israeli government as agents and propaganda manufacturers for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization. The NGOs, the report added, influence research and institutional culture, tilting the ideological balance of the campus toward anti-Zionism.
“The report demonstrates the major contribution from prominent advocacy NGOs to the atmosphere of propaganda and antisemitism at Harvard, particularly through frameworks claiming human rights agendas,” Professor Gerald Steinberg, who authored the report alongside Dr. Adi Schwartz, said in a statement. “The close cooperation between prominent NGOs and Harvard academic programs warrants urgent scrutiny. The blurred lines between scholarship and advocacy threaten academic integrity and risk further inflaming campus tensions.”
Georgetown, meanwhile, has been the site of antisemitic incidents and rampant anti-Israel activism in recent months. In April, for example, a perpetrator graffitied an antisemitic message in a residence hall.
That same month, Georgetown’s student government had to reschedule an anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) referendum that it initially scheduled to take place during the Passover holiday following outcry from Jewish students.
Last year, a building at Georgetown’s campus in Washington, DC was vandalized with pro-terrorist graffiti indicating support for Hamas.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Foreign Infiltration’: Qatar Funnels $1 Billion Into Georgetown University to Grow Influence, New Report Shows first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Fragment of Yemeni Ballistic Missile Hits Palestinian Village After Israel Strikes Iran
A Houthi ballistic missile strike in the Palestinian village of Sa’ir. July 13, 2025. CREDIT: X/Twitter
The first ballistic missile fired against Israel in response to its strikes against Iran hit a Palestinian village in the West Bank, according to the Israeli military
The missile, fired by Yemen’s Houthi terrorist group, set off sirens across Israel on Friday evening as the country braced itself for an expected counter-attack from Iran. The missile impacted near Hebron in the southern West Bank in the Palestinian village of Sa’ir.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 49 ballistic missiles and at least 11 drones at Israel, according to Israeli military data.
This is not the first time that Iranian and Houthis attacks against Israel have resulted in damage and casualties in Palestinian villages.
The only fatality from Iran’s mass missile attack in October 2024 was a Palestinian man from Gaza. The man was killed in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho by falling fuselage from an intercepted missile.
In Iran’s second attack in April 2024, a 7-year-old Bedouin girl was critically injured when shrapnel from a ballistic missile hit her family’s home in a Bedouin town near the Negev city of Arad. She was hospitalized for more than three months.
The post Fragment of Yemeni Ballistic Missile Hits Palestinian Village After Israel Strikes Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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