Iran

19 Aug 2019; MEMO: The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) announced yesterday that its stockpile of enriched uranium had increased from 300 kilogrammes to 370 kilogrammes, Arabi21 reported.

According to the AEOI, Iran is to continue developing its nuclear programme.

TEHRAN, Iran, Aug 19 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Sunday reiterated Iran’s position, for the departure of foreign forces from the region.

Zarif made the remarks, in a meeting with Kuwait’s Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in Kuwait on Sunday.

Zarif urged cooperation among regional states, saying, outsiders will have to leave the region, ultimately.

TEHRAN, Aug 19 (NNN-IRNA) – Iranian ambassador to Britain Hamid Baeidijnejad said on Sunday that with the arrival of a specialist engineering team to Gibraltar, Adrian Daria (formerly Grace 1) ship was expected to leave the area on Sunday night.

18 August 2019; DW: Gibraltar authorities have rejected a US warrant to seize an Iranian tanker that was previously detained by UK troops.  The ship has since been released, but the US tried to keep it in port by claiming terrorism links.

An Iranian supertanker is free to go after spending some six weeks detained in Gibraltar, the government of the British territory said on Sunday.

Tehran, Aug 18, IRNA – Iran's Minister of Information and Communications Technology wrote on his Twitter account that a new Iranian supercomputer will be ready by next Iranian year (March 20, 2020).

Mohammad-Javad Azari-Jahromi wrote that "Simurgh is to be '100 times' more powerful than previous ones".

Appreciating "the young creative makers" of Simurgh, Azari-Jahromi wrote that the Iranian supercomputer will serve the people by supporting businesses with the aim of developing artificial intelligence.

Tehran, Aug 18, IRNA – Iranian Ambassador to London in a message said the recently-released Iranian supertanker Grace 1 was not renamed due to circumventing sanctions because it is simply under no sanctions.

Renaming Grace 1 has brought about a misunderstanding of circumventing sanctions, Hamid Baeidinejad wrote in his Twitter account.

This is while, Panama was against the continuation of Grace 1 tanker under its flag, he added.

Based on maritime regulations, the flag of the ship is subject to its registration place, he noted.

18 Aug 2019; MEMO: The presence of America and Britain in the Gulf region brings insecurity, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards navy, Alireza Tangsiri, was reported as saying by the ILNA news agency, reports Reuters.

Tensions have spiked between Iran and the US and Britain in the Gulf after the Islamic Republic shot down an American drone in June and seized a British tanker last month for violating maritime regulations.

17 August 2019; AFP: A last-minute US warrant to seize an Iranian oil tanker preparing to leave Gibraltar after weeks of detention cast doubt over its departure on Saturday, prolonging a diplomatic spat between Tehran, London and Washington.

GIBRALTAR (AP) — The captain of an Iranian supertanker at the center of a diplomatic standoff no longer wants to keep command of the ship, which is in need of repairs that could impede its immediate departure from Gibraltar, the sailor’s lawyer said Friday.

Any delay in the Grace 1′s departure could provide a window for the U.S. to mount further legal action in Gibraltar seeking to seize the tanker amid a growing confrontation with Tehran.

TEHRAN, August 16. /TASS/: Tehran has not provided any guarantees that the Grace 1 supertanker will stay away from Syria following its release by Gibraltar’s authorities, spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry Abbas Mousavi said on Friday.

"Iran did not give any guarantees that the Grace 1 tanker will not head to Syria," Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted him as saying.