Iran has said talks with the UN's nuclear watchdog were “constructive” and a deal has been struck to avoid a diplomatic shutdown this week.
The country has agreed to let the International Atomic Energy Agency replace memory cards in surveillance cameras used to monitor work at nuclear sites. The recordings will be sealed and stored in Iran.
Iran is now enriching small amounts of uranium to its closest-ever levels to weapons-grade purity as its stockpile continues to grow. But talks will continue with world powers to prevent Tehran from creating a bomb.
“Inspectors are permitted to service the identified equipment and replace their storage media which will be kept under the joint IAEA and AEOI [Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran] seals in … Iran,” a joint IAEA-Iranian statement said.
Rafael Grossi, head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, said: “I am glad to say that today we were able to have a very constructive result, which has to do with the continuity of the operation of the agency’s equipment here."
He said it was "indispensable for us to provide the necessary guarantee and information to the IAEA and to the world that everything is in order”.
"“We had a major, major communication breakdown with Iran, which, of course, is something we cannot afford, having so many important issues that we need to solve,” Grossi told reporters on his return from Tehran.
“And I think that was solved.”
A joint statement released by the IAEA and Iran confirmed the understanding, saying only that “the way and the timing are agreed by the two sides.”
Mr Grossi said the agreement would ensure “continuity of knowledge” that would ensure the watchdog can piece together the data it needs in future.
“The reconstruction and the coming together of the jigsaw puzzle will come when there is an agreement at the JCPOA level,” he said, a reference to the talks on reviving the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers. “But at that time, we will have all this information and there will not have been a gap.”
The announcement could buy time for Iran ahead of an IAEA board meeting this week in which Western powers had been arguing for Tehran to be censured over its lack of cooperation with international inspectors. Eslami said Iran would take part in that meeting and its negotiations with the IAEA would continue there.
The head of the AEOI, Mohammad Eslami, described the negotiations between Iran and the Vienna-based IAEA as “sheerly technical” without any room for politics. He said Mr Grossi would return to Iran soon to talk to officials, without elaborating. Also left unsaid was whether Iran would hand over copies of the older recordings, which Tehran had previously threatened to destroy.
The joint statement on the "constructive" talks said of replacing the memory cards: “The way and the timing are agreed by the two sides.”
Mr Grossi was seeking to ease tensions between Iran and the West that have threatened to destroy talks to remove US sanctions in exchange for Iran's compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal signed with world powers.
The IAEA told member states in its confidential quarterly report last week that its verification and monitoring activities have been “seriously undermined” since February by Iran’s refusal to let inspectors access their monitoring equipment.
Since then, Iran's cooperation with international inspectors has been intermittent.
The IAEA said certain monitoring and surveillance equipment cannot be left for more than three months without being serviced. It was provided with access this month to four surveillance cameras installed at one site, but one of the cameras had been destroyed and a second had been severely damaged, the agency said.
Iran's new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, has insisted that his country is being “transparent".
The IAEA informed member states that there had been no progress on two key issues: explaining uranium traces found at several old, undeclared sites and obtaining urgent access to monitoring equipment so that the agency can continue to keep track of parts of Iran's nuclear programme.
Earlier this month, the IAEA said that Iran has continued to increase its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Separate, indirect talks between the US and Iran on both returning to compliance with the 2015 deal have been suspended since June.
Negotiated by former US President Barack Obama, the deal limits Iran's nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief but did not encompass Iran's ballistic missiles programme — seen as a threat by regional nations such as Israel.
In 2018, under the Trump administration, the US withdrew from the deal, reintroducing painful economic sanctions.
Washington and its European allies have urged Mr Raisi's administration, which took office in August, to return to the talks.
Iran responded to Mr Trump's withdrawal in 2019 by breaching many of the deal's core restrictions, such as enriching uranium to a higher purity than the agreed 3.67 per cent, closer to that suitable for use in nuclear weapons.
At Monday's meeting of the UN agency's 35-nation board of governors, Western powers must decide whether to push for a resolution criticising Iran and raising pressure on it for stonewalling the IAEA.
From Riyadh, the top diplomats of Saudi Arabia and Austria jointly expressed concern over Iran’s nuclear advances, with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg citing “Iran’s failure to allow access for nuclear inspections”.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged world powers to not “fall into the trap of Iranian deception that will lead to additional concessions” over the impasse.
A resolution could jeopardise the resumption of talks on the deal, as Tehran bristles at such moves.
Countries on the IAEA board of governors were watching Mr Grossi's visit to see whether Iran would grant access to the monitoring equipment, or offer prospect of answers on the uranium particles found at the undeclared former sites.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Results
Stage three:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-43
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
5. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
6. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE-Team Emirates, at 24s
General Classification:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-13-02
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin Fenix, at 12s
4. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
6. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
All or Nothing
Amazon Prime
Four stars
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Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
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BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
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ABU DHABI CARD
5pm: UAE Martyrs Cup (TB) Conditions; Dh90,000; 2,200m
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6.30pm: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak (IFAHR) Apprentice Championship (PA) Prestige; Dh100,000; 1,600m
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India Test squad
Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
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Power: 819hp
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
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Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
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'I Want You Back'
Director:Jason Orley
Stars:Jenny Slate, Charlie Day
Rating:4/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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