Iran has reiterated its right to enrich uranium in response to the abrupt delay of Oman’s next round of nuclear negotiations with the United States.
In reference to Iran’s membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on social media on Saturday that “Iran has every right to possess the full nuclear fuel cycle.”
He continued, “Many NPT members enrich uranium while completely rejecting nuclear weapons,” underscoring Iran’s claim that its nuclear activities are of a civilian nature.
In response to the US’s demand that Iran stop all enrichment activities, Araghchi remarked, “Maximalist positioning and incendiary rhetoric accomplish nothing but eroding the chances of success.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Iran to stop its enrichment efforts in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, claiming that “the only nations in the world that enrich uranium are those with nuclear weapons.” However, nations like Germany, Japan, and Brazil do so without having nuclear weapons.
A fourth round of indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, was postponed, according to the comments.
In the past, I have avoided making important negotiation-related arguments public.
I’ll say that repeating lies won’t alter fundamental truths. Iran has a right to control the entire nuclear fuel cycle because it was one of the NPT’s founding signatories. Additionally, there …
Oman, who is acting as a mediator, cited “logistical reasons” for the delay. A new date is still undetermined, according to an Iranian official who told the Reuters news agency that “the US approach” would dictate the timing.
The fallout comes in response to a recent wave of US sanctions against Iran’s alleged continued support for Yemen’s Houthi rebels and its oil sales. Washington was accused of sending “contradictory messages” that undermined diplomacy by Tehran in a response.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot earlier this week, who claimed Iran was “on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons,” a claim Tehran refrained from calling as “simply absurd”.
Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is in accordance with IAEA oversight, insisting it doesn’t seek a bomb.
Even as IAEA Chairman Rafael Grossi suggested on Wednesday that any enriched material in Iran could either be dissolved or exported if a deal was reached, Araghchi once more stated that Iran’s right to enrich was “non-negotiable.”
The diplomatic impasse comes as global powers consider whether or not meaningful progress can still be made in reviving the US’s first nuclear deal as president in 2018.
As Israel’s punishing blockade of food, water, and other essential aid to the besieged enclave continues into its third month amid relentless bombardment, at least 57 Palestinians have been starved to death in Gaza.
The Israeli-occupied Palestinians continue to use food as a weapon of war, according to Gaza’s government media office, which stated on Saturday that the majority of the victims were children, the sick, and the elderly, and that they were mostly children.
Since March 2, Gaza has been subject to total Israeli blockade, according to video released by Al Jazeera Arabic that shows numerous trucks carrying essential supplies scurrying southward on Saturday along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, the queue stretching south beyond the city of Arish, which is located 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the Rafah border crossing.
A baby girl named Janan Saleh al-Sakafi, who passed away from malnutrition and dehydration in the Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City on Saturday, was one of the latest victims identified by Al Jazeera’s investigation. Since the start of the year, more than 9, 000 children have been taken into hospitals to receive treatment for acute malnutrition, according to the UN.
Hani Mahmoud, a journalist from Gaza City, claimed he had witnessed heartbreaking scenes of children “looking for whatever leftovers of canned food products” while looking through the trash. He added that the enclave had reached a “critical” point where local organizations were unable to provide food to displaced people and international organizations were running out of supplies.
A Palestinian displaced from Gaza City, Ahmad al-Najjar, told Al Jazeera, “Finding a single meal has become an impossible quest.” People have reported seeing charity after charity declare that they are out of supplies and are shutting down operations because they are unable to provide the population with the needed assistance.
“It’s frustrating and infuriating to have trucks parked on the other side of the fence and people being denied access while the population, even children, is in such dire condition.”
Hospitals are experiencing “acute shortages.”
With only about a week of supplies left, Suhaib al-Hams, the director of the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, claimed in a statement that medical services were experiencing “acute shortages in more than 75 percent of essential medicines.”
Without “immediate intervention,” he warned, the majority of the enclave’s medical services would shut down in order to reopen borders and allow access to medical and humanitarian aid. He added that patients who were “slowly dying without treatment every day” needed to be evacuated right away.
The Gaza Strip’s longest continuous blockade has ever been in place, and it comes as Israeli forces continue to bombard the area, injuring 275 people and killing at least 70 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry.
On May 3, 2025, their father and grandfather carry the bodies of their two children, Yahya Sinwar and Seif Sinwar, who were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip.
According to reports from Al Jazeera Arabic, two women were killed on Saturday when an Israeli aircraft attacked a home in the town of al-Fakhari near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
A separate Israeli naval attack off the coast of Gaza City resulted in the deaths of one fisherman and the injury of another.
In an Israeli drone attack on the southern Gazans’ al-Mawasi area, which was once a “safe zone,” two Palestinians were killed later in the day.
Following the city-state’s general election, Singapore’s long-governing People’s Action Party (PAP) appeared to be firmly in control, but early voter surveys suggest the Workers’ Party (WP) may be able to hold its ground in challenging the PAP’s dominance in a number of crucial areas.
About 87 of the 97 seats in parliament, including five secured uncontested seats, were ahead in the sample counts released by the Elections Department on Saturday, according to the results of the election process.
By early Sunday, the final tally was anticipated.
The real test, even if the PAP had already won, was how much support it could hold, particularly under the leadership of Lawrence Wong, the newly appointed prime minister.
The party’s performance in 2020, which included just over 60% of the vote, was among its weakest results since independence in 1965, when it seceded from Malaysia.
Wong, who took office last year, campaigned on promises of continuity and new leadership in an area with the highest housing shortages and rising living costs.
The WP, the most credible opposition party in Singapore, won 26 seats in a city-state election and is projected to hold those 10 for the duration. This is unprecedented for any opposition party.
Analysts believe that a change in political sentiment, particularly among younger voters, is being felt even as the PAP’s rule is in effect, but the WP’s ability to maintain or slightly increase its share, in particular, suggests this.
Wong, 52, who succeeded Lee Hsien Loong, the son of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, in the country’s first national test, was a candidate for the position.
Only three of the contests were close and within the margin of error, which indicated that the PAP’s wins in many races were significant.
According to Mustafa Izzuddin, adjunct senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore, “It’s not just the status quo; it’s also the margin of victory in each of the constituencies,” the numbers are “quite remarkable,” according to Izzuddin.
That “certainly points to a healthy and strong mandate for the prime minister,” Izzuddin continued.
Opposition parties struggle with limited coverage and funding while the PAP, in place since 1965, still enjoys a large institutional reach and resources.
At least two civilians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Syria over the course of the night because Israel has claimed to be conducting attacks to protect the Druze minority from government violence, a position that the Syrian Druze community itself rejects.
After 15 air raids hit several locations in Syria after midnight on Saturday, with at least eight attacks hitting Damascus, at least eight people were reported injured.
Without providing further details or proof, the Israeli military confirmed the attacks on Saturday, claiming its forces “struck a military site, anti-aircraft cannons, and surface-to-air missile infrastructure in Syria.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not allow Syrian forces to deploy south of Damascus nor “tolerate any threat to the Druze community” following Israel’s attack on the day before the incident.
This week during fighting between pro-government forces and Druze fighters in Syria, more than 100 people were killed.
Imran Khan, a reporter from the suburb of Jaramana in Damascus, reported that there was a shaky calm on Saturday.
“Many people had absolute fright. During the clashes on Tuesday, the fighters entered from various directions, but the security forces eventually placed Jaramana under a two-day curfew.
He claimed that security would return when a Druze delegation arrived to reassure people at that time.
Agreements were reached between Druze leaders in Damascus and the Druze stronghold of Suwayda province in the country’s southern region to increase security and remove some of the heavy weapons fighters had in storage.
As part of the agreement here and in Suwayda, a local force from the Ministry of Defense will now be in charge of security, according to Khan.
However, it is claimed that the armed fighters were rebelling against the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime. That’s a real concern because many Syrians believe that elements are attempting to destabilize the nation by stoking sectarian tensions.
The Druze community has been sceptical of Israel’s claim to protect the Druze, he added.
They claim they have internal control over this problem and don’t require Israel to intervene. They also mention how frequently the Druze are mistreated in Israel and how they have been forced to flee their homes and communities to make way for illegal Israeli settlements. The Israeli prime minister appears to be using this to pressure Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and launch attacks on Syrian targets.
Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, stated on Saturday that he “strongly condemns Israel’s continued and escalating violations of Syria’s sovereignty, including numerous airstrikes in Damascus and other cities.”
Despite being condemned internationally, the Israeli military, which continues to occupy parts of Syria, including the Golan Heights, has continued to launch attacks across the nation.
Nothing can stop us from defending our people or pursuing our duty toward our people, said Ammar al-Hariri, a commander with the Syrian security forces, from the Suwayda town of al-Soura al-Kubra.
Salman Olaiwi, a Druze resident of al-Soura al-Kubra, inspects his damaged home in Suwayda province, Syria, on May 2, 2025. [Karam Al-Masri/Reuters]
Residents of the town, Salman Olaiwi, said that when they learned about the agreement between the government and Druze leaders, they felt “relieved.”
A volunteer doctor describes the things he has witnessed while working here at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, Gaza.
According to thoracic surgeon Ehab Massad, it is impossible to get over the scenes of children who are starving, shocked, and in pain.
As tears pour down his eyes, he adds, “I could never forget that, ever,” in a faltering voice as he tears up at the sight of a young child who is bewildered by the bombing’s devastating impact.
It will never feel like enough, the saying goes.
One of the four doctors working in Qatar has joined, Massad is a member of a medical mission run by the Rahma Worldwide organization.
He claims that no matter what we do for the people of Gaza, it will never feel like enough.
“[But] now that I feel helpless while watching the news outside of Gaza, I can at least feel like I’m doing my part,” he says.
The three other doctors who spoke to Al Jazeera also expressed the same sentiment. A long line of doctors, some of whom had to wait up to five months for a spot on a mission to open up, was described by orthopaedic surgeon Anas Hijjawi.
As ophthalmic surgeon Dr. Diyaa Rachdan declares to Al Jazeera that Tuesday would be the last day of the mission and that the doctors would return to their respective hospitals the following day, he struggles to maintain his voice.
He continues, “But I’m hoping there will be more, longer trips to Gaza in the future.”
Although their work in Gaza is challenging, these doctors are sad to be leaving their field. Instead, every day is a struggle because they simply lack the tools to deal with the volume of deaths, illnesses, and injuries they face.
During the nearly 19-month-long occupation of the besieged enclave, Israel has frequently prevented the entry of hospital supplies into Gaza. Anything that is brought in with a medical mission is forbidden.
The doctors struggle with the available medical equipment because, according to Dr. Rachdan, there is simply no other choice but to reuse “disposable” medical implements repeatedly, despite the risk that results.
Many doctors tell Al Jazeera that the thought that people in Gaza pass away from injuries and illnesses that are easily treated in any other hospital with adequate supplies is always at the forefront of their minds.
A young patient is comforted by Dr. Mohammad Almanaseer’s concern over the burns that have engulfed her face and body.
Sometimes, according to Dr. Hijjawi, we can’t cover a patient or take safety measures to keep the operating room clean.
“Sometimes, I don’t have the appropriate size of screws or metal plates to repair a limb.” I had to purchase the wrong size of the item in order for them to improve so that they could, one day, travel for more medical care.
What actually happens to people during a war?
Nothing, according to doctors who enter Gaza, could have prepared them for the level of destruction that the people there have to endure, they claim. They have done so frequently before arriving there.
Words cannot adequately describe the suffering of the patients or the medical teams’ exhaustion. Urology consultant Mohammad Almanaseer, a fourth Qatar-based volunteer, claims that they have been working almost nonstop for a year and a half.
As Dr. Almanaseer discusses the case that has had the biggest impact on him personally, the one involving a 2-year-old boy who was taken to the emergency room after Israel bombed him and his family, he speaks with a tentativeness.
He needed immediate surgery despite the regular resuscitation attempts made with him. When it became clear to us that the child was likely going to die in the operating room, I was assisting the paediatric surgeon.
The child passed away the following morning.
He even had my son’s name, and he was the same age as me. May God have your mother, who was killed in the same bombing, by his side, Kinan, little Kinan.
The medical teams deal with injuries as urgent and extreme as Kinan’s, which causes a significant number of patients who are repeatedly pushed down the list and who require less urgent care.
Like the patients who have been waiting for cataract surgery for years or months, some of whom Dr. Rachdan assisted in this mission.
The genocidal war has been foretold on behalf of the people of Gaza to continue for the rest of their lives. The visiting volunteer doctors have a strange sense of wonder at the strength of this.
Dr. Hijjawi recalls an afternoon conversation with an operating room nurse about how he bids his wife and children their final respects every day and how he struggles to get to work every day. He never knows what might happen to either of them.
Following an Israeli attack on displaced Palestinians’ tents in Khan Younis, Gaza, on April 23, 2025 [Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Agency]
Then, according to Dr. Hijjawi, “we heard ambulances coming in, and we went to the emergency room.” The OR nurse suddenly ran past us and pleaded in vain for an ambulance to take him to his house after he learned that it had been bombed.
They finally left with his parents, who had been killed, and the rest of his family, who had also been hurt, and they eventually went back. And what, you may ask? He is still here, working upstairs, just two days after what just happened to him.
The shocked people’s silence
All four physicians appear to be sympathetic toward their young patients. The children’s suffering will be absorbed with them in their memories, and it is their pain that affects them most.
Dr. Almanaseer visits a young girl in intensive care while Al Jazeera is watching him go about his business. She is recovering from extensive burns to her body and face. She inquires to him in a quiet voice whether the burns will leave her with large scars.
The doctor takes her time to talk to her until she seems calmed down for the day.
Dr. Hijjawi is also making his rounds, speaking to a young girl, gently checking her leg, and urging her to “lift both feet off the bed for me.” Then he asks a young boy to wiggle his toes so he can monitor his progress.
A young girl is then lying alone in a room covered in recovery blankets. He’s there to watch her because her right arm has been bandaged.
He presses her finger, then moves her arm, and squats on the floor next to her bed. He tells a concerned relative that the problem will need to be surgically treated because she appears to have lost sensation in her two fingers.
The children are quiet, wide-eyed, and don’t say much more than they should.
Hijjawi claims that there is a lot to be dealt with. Being in a hospital is frightening, but many of them are simply waiting for a visit from a parent, grandparent, or sibling. Some of them are unaware of the identities of their loved ones outside the hospital.
Add that to their physical discomfort, he quietly says, “Yes, they are very quiet for very long periods of time, or their minds seem to wander.”
One memory of Gaza’s children that Dr. Rachdan appears to want to preserve as he prepares to leave is the sight of the children who continue to play despite the destruction.
As rumors spread that the world’s youngest nation will revert to a full-blooded civil war, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has claimed that at least seven people have been killed and another 20 have been injured in a South Sudanese attack.
The only hospital and pharmacy in Old Fangak, which is still operational, were destroyed, according to MSF on Saturday.
In an X-post, MSF urged people to “stop the bombing.” Protect people in the community. “Protect healthcare,” and that the attack was “a clear violation of international law.” The facility’s purpose was not immediately known. According to the Associated Press news agency, it was impossible to contact a spokesman for the South Sudanese military for comment.
The hospital owned by MSF in Old Fangak, South Sudan, was bombed today.
The pharmacy was completely destroyed. All medical supplies are lost. People have been reported to have been injured and killed.
The only nearby hospital that is functional is this.
Stop the bombings. Protect people in the community. Healthcare security pic. https://twitter.com/xVtEV0sLp
Several eyewitnesses reported that additional strikes came hours later near a market in Old Fangak, which sparked widespread panic and civilian displacement.
Conflicts between First Vice President Riek Machar’s forces and President Salva Kiir’s have boiled over.
One of the largest towns in Fangak county, an ethnically Nuer region known for its history, is Old Fangak, where Machar is currently alleged to have been under house arrest.
In response to the violence between rival factions, the UN has issued a warning in recent weeks that South Sudan is in danger of resuming its civil war.
Soon after gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan’s conflict with Machar, an ethnic Nuer, erupted as forces aligned with Kiir, an ethnic Dinka.
Prior to the pair’s formation of a government of national unity in the wake of the conflict, which claimed more than 40 000 lives.
The hospital attack is just the latest instance of the government’s crackdown on opposition groups nationwide. Government troops supported by Ugandan soldiers have launched numerous airstrikes targeting areas in the neighboring Upper Nile State since March.
The last remaining hospital and pharmacy in the northern town of Old Fangak in Fangak county, South Sudan, will soon be destroyed, according to a smoke rise following an aerial bombardment that killed people on May 3, 2025. [Medecins Sans Frontieres/Handout via Reuters]
In a statement released on Friday, several Western embassies, including the United States, claimed that South Sudan’s political and security situation had “markedly worsened” in recent days.
The embassies demanded that Machar be freed from house arrest and that there be a “return to dialogue urgently aimed at achieving a political solution.”