Moroccan athlete Nawal El Moutawakel celebrates her historic victory as the first Arab Muslim woman gold medalist at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in August 1984, in the US. Getty Images
Moroccan athlete Nawal El Moutawakel celebrates her historic victory as the first Arab Muslim woman gold medalist at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in August 1984, in the US. Getty Images

1984 - Nawal El-Moutawakel’s historic Olympic victory

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Updated 19 April 2025
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1984 - Nawal El-Moutawakel’s historic Olympic victory

1984 - Nawal El-Moutawakel’s historic Olympic victory
  • In 1984, the athlete became the first Arab Muslim woman, and Moroccan, to win a gold medal 

JEDDAH: On March 1, 2020, I was touring the Olympic Museum in Lausanne with the Riyadh United women’s basketball team, at the invitation of the former Swiss president, Ueli Maurer. 

The museum’s interactive exhibits take you on a historical tour, from the first Ancient Games in 776 B.C. to the father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who helped establish the International Olympic Committee in Paris on June 23, 1894. 

The first modern Olympics took place in Athens in 1896, with 14 countries taking part but no female competitors. At the next Olympics, in Paris in 1900, women were allowed to participate for the first time, wearing ankle-length skirts, but were limited to a few sports: sailing, golf, tennis and croquet. 

It was not until 1928, at the Games in Amsterdam, that women were allowed to compete in track and field. Fast-forward 56 years to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where Nawal El-Moutawakel won the 400-meter hurdles to become the first Arab Muslim woman, and Moroccan, to win a gold medal. Newspapers around the world marked this milestone, with Arab News publishing her winning picture on its front page. 

Even though I was at a very young age to remember that event, her legendary achievement stands as a landmark in the accomplishments of Arab and Muslim female athletes. After she won, King Hassan II of Morocco called her to congratulate her, and declared that all girls born that day were to be named in her honor.  

How we wrote it




Arab News’ front-page headline “Arab girl makes history” featured emotional El-Moutawakel raising her country’s flag in triumph.

As I reflect on my own experiences as a nonprofessional athlete growing up in Saudi Arabia, I will say that I come from a family who integrated sports into our lives from a young age. My siblings and I played tennis, football and even cricket with my father. I also attended private Saudi schools, which meant I had opportunities to practice sports. 

I found my passion in basketball. My uncle Tariq was my first basketball coach and he bought several rims and placed them on all family garages. 

In 2003, I formed a local basketball team with classmates from high school. This led me to establish Jeddah United Sports Co., which eventually became the first accredited sports academy in Saudi Arabia. The Jeddah United and Riyadh United women’s teams have participated in sports exchanges around the globe. 

As this was happening, other Saudi women began accomplishing their own milestones in sport. In 2008, Arwa Mutabagani was appointed the first female board member of the Saudi Equestrian Federation. Her daughter, Dalma Malhas, won a historic bronze medal at the Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010.  

In May 2012, I reached the base camp of Mount Everest with 10 Saudi women, headed by Princess Reema bint Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US, in an effort to raise awareness of breast cancer and the importance of physical activity in prevention and treatment. 

And in June 2012, Saudi Arabia joined the rest of the world in sending female athletes to the Summer Olympics. Wojdan Shaherkani competed in judo, and Sarah Attar ran the 800-meter sprint at the London Games. Attar might have finished last in her race but she received a standing ovation from 80,000 spectators, who cheered her across the finish line. 

Key Dates

  • 1

    Women allowed to participate in Olympics for the first time, at the Paris Games; Switzerland’s Helene de Pourtales is the first female gold medalist (her team won for sailing); Britain’s Charlotte Cooper is the first individual champion, in singles tennis.

    Timeline Image 1900

  • 2

    Nawal El-Moutawakel of Morocco wins the 400m hurdles at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the first Arab Muslim woman to claim a gold medal.

    Timeline Image Aug. 8, 1984

  • 3

    Saudi Arabia sends female athletes to the Olympics for the first time. Wojdan Shaherkani competes in judo at the London Games and Sarah Attar on the track; the latter receives a standing ovation as she crosses the finish line in the 800m heats.

    Timeline Image June 2012

  • 4

    Sara Ahmed wins bronze in weightlifting at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to become Egypt’s first female Olympic medalist.

  • 5

    Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first US athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab, wins bronze in the team saber event at the Rio Olympics.

    Timeline Image Aug. 13, 2016

  • 6

    Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launches Saudi Vision 2030, which includes plans to promote widespread participation in sports.

  • 7

    International Basketball Federation lifts ban on players wearing the hijab.

  • 8

    Rower Hussein Alireza and sprinter Yasmine Al-Dabbagh jointly carry Saudi Arabia’s flag at the opening ceremony of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, delayed for a year because of the COVID 19 pandemic.

    Timeline Image July 23, 2021

  • 9

    First Saudi female Olympic swimmer, Mashael Al-Ayed, secures a commendable sixth place in the women’s 200m freestyle heats at the Paris Games.

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan for national reform and diversification was announced on April 25, 2016. Its strategic objectives for social and economic empowerment include the promotion of sports and physical activities. Specific aims include increasing the proportion of individuals who exercise regularly from 13 percent to 40 percent; enabling Saudi athletes to perform at higher levels in a wide range of sports; and expanding Saudi participation at international sporting events. 

In 2017, the Ministry of Education approved a physical education program for girls in public schools, and in 2018 women in the Kingdom were allowed to attend sports events in stadiums, something previously strictly limited to men. 

At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, Saudi Arabia sent twice as many female athletes, four, compared with the London Games, and they once again included Attar. Arab and Muslim women achieved several milestones during those Games: Sara Ahmed of Egypt became the first Arab female medalist in weightlifting when she won bronze; and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who won bronze in the team saber event, was the first US athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab. 

On May 3, 2017, the International Basketball Federation announced it was lifting its ban on players wearing the hijab. This was a significant move because it is through the federation’s basketball World Cup that nations can qualify for the Olympic Games. 

In March 2019, another milestone of inclusion took place, at the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, when members of the Saudi team won 18 gold medals in various sports. 




El-Moutawakel on the podium after winning the women’s 400 Metres Hurdles at the Los Angeles Olympics. Getty Images

To help support the girls’ basketball team, the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee collaborated with the renowned Help Center, a non-profit organization that empowers, supports and trains girls and boys with intellectual disabilities. Jeddah United were asked to recommend players who could play alongside athletes with intellectual disabilities to form the Saudi women’s unified basketball team. It was implemented according to the “4P” concept: Public-Private-People-Partnership. 

The Saudi women’s unified basketball team made history at the 2019 Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, as the only team that was undefeated on their path to the gold medal. 

Later that year, Saudi women made a historic appearance at the sixth Gulf Cooperation Council Games in Kuwait, participating in eight events and winning two gold medals, in fencing. 

Since then things have only gotten better for Saudi female athletes. At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Saudi sprinter Yasmeen Al-Dabbagh competed in the women’s 100m in the track and field events, while Tahani Al-Qahtani represented the Kingdom in the +78kg category of the Judo competition. 




Saudi Arabia’s Dunya Ali M Abutaleb celebrates advancing to the next round of her taekwondo women’s -49kg at the Paris 2024 Olympics. AFP

In a historic moment, Al-Dabbagh joined Saudi rower Husein Alireza in carrying the Kingdom’s flag at the opening ceremony. The 2020 Games were the first at which a male and female athlete could jointly have the honor of carrying their nation’s flag, as a result of a rule change to promote gender equality. 

At the Paris Olympics last year, 17-year-old Mashael Alayed became the first Saudi woman to compete in the swimming at the Games. She was one of three female Saudi participants, alongside Dunya Abutaleb, a bronze medalist at the World Taekwondo Championships in 2022, and Hibah Mohammed, the Kingdom’s sole female representative in the athletics competitions, who was granted a wildcard entry to the 100m sprint but was unable to compete after picking up an injury during training. 

The 2024 Olympics were also the first at which there was full gender parity, with equal numbers of men and women competing. 

And let us not forget the achievements of Reema Juffali, Saudi Arabia’s first female racing driver, who received a wild card entry at the F1 Academy season opener in Jeddah last year. 

As Saudi women continue to make tremendous progress in the sports arena, we can expect to see them excel in all fields, in the process inspiring future generations of female athletes to build on such milestones. 

In the Ancient Olympics in Greece, athletes competed in just one event: a foot race for men. Who could have imagined the course of development that would lead to an Arab Muslim female runner winning gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics? 

  • Lina K. Almaeena is co-founder and chairperson of Jeddah United Sports Co. She is a former member of the Shoura Council and was ranked on media company Forbes’ list of the 200 Most Powerful Arab Women. 


End to war in Gaza ‘is Saudi Arabia’s priority’: FM Prince Faisal

End to war in Gaza ‘is Saudi Arabia’s priority’: FM Prince Faisal
Updated 18 min 37 sec ago
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End to war in Gaza ‘is Saudi Arabia’s priority’: FM Prince Faisal

End to war in Gaza ‘is Saudi Arabia’s priority’: FM Prince Faisal
  • Says Israeli crushing of civilians ‘completely unacceptable and has to stop’

GAZA: A permanent ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza are Saudi Arabia’s current priority, the Kingdom’s foreign minister said on Friday.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan was speaking on a visit to Moscow, where he was asked about the possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel. 

The Kingdom’s main aim was peace in the Palestinian enclave, he said. “What we are seeing is the Israelis are crushing Gaza, the civilian population of Gaza. This is completely unnecessary, completely unacceptable, and has to stop.”

 

 

In 2024, the foreign minister said that there can be no normalization of ties with Israel without resolving the Palestinian issue.

US President Donald Trump said he expected Hamas to respond to his “final proposal” for a ceasefire in Gaza in the next 24 hours. 

Hamas said it was still studying the plan and consulting other Palestinian factions. 

The militant group is demanding guarantees that talks to end the war would take place during the proposed 60-day ceasefire, and that the pause in fighting would be extended until both sides came to terms.

At least 20 Palestinians were killed early on Friday in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, 15 in an attack on a tent city for displaced people near Khan Younis in the south and the other five in Jabaliya in the north.

At funeral prayers for the dead in Khan Younis, Mayar Al-Farr, 13, wept over the body of her brother Mahmoud. “The ceasefire will come, and I have lost my brother? There should have been a ceasefire long before I lost my brother,” she said.

Adlar Mouamar, whose nephew Ashraf was also killed, said: “Our hearts are broken. We ask the world, we don’t want food ... we want them to end the bloodshed. We want them to stop this war.”

The local health ministry in Gaza says more than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault on the region since an October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

According to Israel, 1,200 people were killed in that attack and more than 250 taken hostage into Gaza. 

 

 

 


 


PSG ‘dead’ unless they keep improving: Luis Enrique

PSG ‘dead’ unless they keep improving: Luis Enrique
Updated 05 July 2025
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PSG ‘dead’ unless they keep improving: Luis Enrique

PSG ‘dead’ unless they keep improving: Luis Enrique
  • PSG played an entertaining attacking style with three forward on their way to Champions League glory

ATLANTA: Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said Friday his team will keep adapting and improving to pursue future success and if they failed to do so they would be “dead.”
The European champions face German giants Bayern Munich on Saturday in the Club World Cup quarter-finals in Atlanta and the Spanish coach said they will not keep relying on the same system.
PSG played an entertaining attacking style with three forward on their way to Champions League glory, but Luis Enrique said one day he would diverge.
“We will change it because teams adapt — in football there is nothing magical,” Luis Enrique told reporters.
“When you overcome the press, your opponent adapts, when you create superiority in an area, your opponent adapts, there is no magic formula.
“There is no coach who has a system or a move, and that’s it, that’s the difficulty of modern football, all coaches are prepared, all players are better physically and technically than ever.”
“So you adapt, you improvise, and you become unpredictable for your opponent, or you are dead.”
Luis Enrique said playing the same way that led PSG to a first treble this season would not suffice going forward.
“It’s not enough to do what we’ve done this past season in the next, we have to change, we have to improve things,” added Luis Enrique.
Bayern Munich beat PSG 1-0 in November in the Champions League group stage, before the French side found their stride and went on to triumph in the competition for the first time.
“We have a little bit of revenge to take, we know they’re a tough team, but we’re much stronger than in November,” said Ousmane Dembele, who was sent off in Munich.
“A lot has changed — the players have clearly raised their level, I’ve raised my level too, and we have a lot of confidence. We know what we need to do on the field, we can beat any team.”
The 28-year-old is a leading Ballon d’Or contender after a superb campaign, although has only made a brief cameo as a substitute in the Club World Cup thus far.
Dembele suffered a quadriceps injury during the Nations League at the start of June and came on in PSG’s 4-0 romp against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.
The forward said he is now “100 percent” fit but it is up to Luis Enrique whether he starts against Bayern at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“It’s not the time to give information to my opponent — we’ll see tomorrow,” said Luis Enrique.


Ukraine blames Russian strike for power cut to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

 Ukraine blames Russian strike for power cut to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
Updated 05 July 2025
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Ukraine blames Russian strike for power cut to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

 Ukraine blames Russian strike for power cut to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
  • Ukrainian minister says Russian shelling caused the outage
  • Ukrainian energy distribution company says it restored power

VIENNA: All external power lines supplying electricity to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine were down for several hours on Friday, the UN nuclear watchdog said, but the station’s management later said power had been restored.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, acknowledged that power had been restored after 3 1/2 hours. But he added in a statement on X that nuclear safety “remains extremely precarious in Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s energy minister blamed Russian shelling for severing the last power line to the plant and its six reactors. The country’s power distribution operator said its technicians had taken action to restore it.
Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant, which is not operating but still requires power to keep its nuclear fuel cool, switched during the outage to running on diesel generators, the IAEA said.
The organization has repeatedly warned of the risk of a catastrophic accident at Zaporizhzhia, which is located near the front line in the war in Ukraine. Its reactors are shut down, but the nuclear fuel inside them still needs to be cooled, which requires constant power.
The plant’s Russia-installed management issued a statement on Telegram saying the high-voltage line to the plant had been restored.
The statement said there had been no disruptions to operations at the plant, no violations of security procedures and no rise in background radiation levels beyond normal levels.
The IAEA had earlier said that the plant had lost all off-site power for the ninth time during the military conflict and for the first time since late 2023. “The ZNPP currently relies on power from its emergency diesel generators, underlining (the) extremely precarious nuclear safety situation,” it said.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galuschenko wrote on Telegram that a Russian strike had cut off the plant.
“The enemy struck the power line connecting the temporarily occupied (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant) with the integrated power system of Ukraine.”
Ukrenergo, the sole operator of high-voltage lines in Ukraine, said its specialists had brought it back into service.
“Ukrenergo specialists have brought back into service the high-voltage line which supplies the temporarily occupied power station,” it said on Telegram.
Neither the IAEA nor the plant’s Russian-installed management initially cited a cause for the cut-off. Russian forces seized the Zaporizhzhia station in the first weeks of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Each side regularly accuses the other of firing or taking other actions that could trigger a nuclear accident.


At least 13 dead in Texas floods and more than 20 children missing from a girls summer camp

At least 13 dead in Texas floods and more than 20 children missing from a girls summer camp
Updated 05 July 2025
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At least 13 dead in Texas floods and more than 20 children missing from a girls summer camp

At least 13 dead in Texas floods and more than 20 children missing from a girls summer camp
  • Missing girls were among 750 attending summer camp at Camp Mystic in Kerr County
  • Flooded site is in an area of Texas known as “flash flood alley”

KERRVILLE, Texas: Months worth of heavy rain fell in a matter of hours on Texas Hill Country, leaving at least 13 people dead and many more unaccounted for Friday, including about 20 girls attending a summer camp, as search teams conducted boat and helicopter rescues in fast-moving floodwaters.
Desperate pleas peppered social media as loved ones sought any information about people caught in the flood zone. At least 10 inches  of rain poured down overnight in central Kerr County, causing flash flooding of the Guadalupe River.
Authorities stressed that the situation was still developing and that the death toll could change, with rescue operations ongoing for an unspecified number missing. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said six to 10 bodies had been found so far. Around the same time, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha reported that 13 people had died in the flooding.
“Some are adults, some are children,” Patrick said during a news conference. “Again, we don’t know where those bodies came from.”
Judge Rob Kelly, the chief elected official in Kerr County, said authorities were still working to identify those who died.
“Most of them, we don’t know who they are,” Kelly said during a news conference.

Pleading for information after flash flood
On the Kerr County sheriff’s office Facebook page, people pleaded for help finding loved ones and posted pictures of them. Patrick said at least 400 people were on the ground helping in the response. Nine rescue teams, 14 helicopters and 12 drones were being used in the search, and Patrick said some people were being rescued from trees.
About 23 of the roughly 750 girls attending Camp Mystic were among those who were unaccounted for, Patrick said.
Search crews were doing “whatever we can do to find everyone we can,” he said.
At Hunt, where the Guadalupe forks, a river gauge recorded a 22 foot rise  in about two hours, according to Bob Fogarty, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Austin/San Antonio office. Fogarty said the gauge failed after recording a level of 29 and a half feet .
“The water’s moving so fast, you’re not going to recognize how bad it is until it’s on top of you,” Fogarty said.
‘Pitch black wall of death’
In Ingram, Erin Burgess woke to thunder and rain at 3:30 a.m. Just 20 minutes later, water was pouring into her home directly across from the river, she said. She described an agonizing hour clinging to a tree and waiting for the water to recede enough so they could walk up the hill to a neighbor’s home.
“My son and I floated to a tree where we hung onto it, and my boyfriend and my dog floated away. He was lost for a while, but we found them,” she said.
Of her 19-year-old son, Burgess said: “Thankfully he’s over 6 feet tall. That’s the only thing that saved me, was hanging on to him.”
Matthew Stone, 44, of Kerrville, said police came knocking on doors at 5:30 a.m. but that he had received no warning on his phone.
“We got no emergency alert. There was nothing,” Stone said. Then: “a pitch black wall of death.”
Stone said police used his paddle boat to help rescue a neighbor. Stone said he and the rescuers thought they heard someone yelling “help!” from the water but couldn’t see anyone.
At a reunification center set up in Ingram, families cried and cheered as loved ones got off vehicles loaded with evacuees. Two soldiers carried an older woman who could not get down a ladder. Behind her, a woman in a soiled T-shirt and shorts clutched a small white dog.
Later, a girl in a white “Camp Mystic” T-shirt arrived. Standing in white socks in a puddle, she sobbed in her mother’s arms.

‘No one knew this kind of flood was coming’
The forecast had called for rain, with a flood watch upgraded to a warning overnight for at least 30,000 people. But totals in some places exceeded expectations, Fogarty said.
Patrick noted that the potential for heavy rain and flooding covered a large area.
“Everything was done to give them a heads up that you could have heavy rain, and we’re not exactly sure where it’s going to land,” Patrick said. “Obviously as it got dark last night, we got into the wee morning of the hours, that’s when the storm started to zero in.”
Asked about how people were notified in Kerr County so that they could get to safety, Kelly said, “We do not have a warning system.”
When reporters pushed on why more precautions weren’t taken, he responded: “Rest assured, no one knew this kind of flood was coming.”
“We have floods all the time,” he added. “This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States.”
Popular tourism area prone to flooding
It’s in an area of Texas known as “flash flood alley” because of the hills’ thin layer of soil, said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, which was collecting donations to help nonprofits responding to the disaster.
“When it rains, water doesn’t soak into the soil,” Dickson said. “It rushes down the hill.”
River tourism industry is a key part of the Hill Country economy, said Dickson. Well-known, century-old summer camps bring in kids from all over the country, he said. Between Hunt and Ingram are many river homes and cabins for rent.
“It’s generally a very tranquil river with really beautiful clear blue water that people have been attracted to for generations,” Dickson said.
Deaths in New Jersey blamed on thunderstorms
The flooding in Texas occurred as severe weather moved through central New Jersey, where thunderstorms were blamed for at least three deaths.
Among them were two men in Plainfield who died after a tree fell onto their vehicle, according to a city Facebook post.
The city canceled its July Fourth parade, concert and fireworks show.


IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
Updated 05 July 2025
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
  • Tehran has passed law to suspend cooperation with IAEA
  • Iran’s stock of near-bomb-grade uranium unaccounted for

VIENNA: The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

IAEA wants talks
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“(Grossi) reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60 percent purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that .... the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.