Austria

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has started enriching uranium with a fourth cascade, or cluster, of advanced IR-2m machines at its underground Natanz plant, a report by the U.N. atomic watchdog obtained by Reuters on Thursday showed, in a further breach of Iran’s nuclear deal.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria is in talks with Russia to buy a million doses of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, which has yet to be approved by the European Medicines Agency, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s office said on Tuesday.

Conservative leader Kurz is under fire from opposition parties because his government did not buy as many coronavirus vaccines as it could have under the European Union’s collective purchasing scheme.

VIENNA, March 20. /TASS/: The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project will hopefully be completed despite threats of US sanctions, said Rainer Seele, the CEO of Austrian oil and gas company OMV, which is Gazprom’s partner in the project.

"I hope for it [the project’s completion]. This project has huge significance for security of supplies to the European gas market, that is why Europe has the responsibility to make decisions," Seele said in an interview with the Saturday issue of the Wiener Zeitung newspaper, excerpts from which were published by the Austria Press Agency on Friday.

11 Mar 2021; MEMO: Egypt's former vice president on Wednesday criticised the country's authorities for holding people in detention without trial.

"It is painful that Ziad [Al-Alimi] and his countless colleagues languish in prisons without trial, facing accusations of terrorism. They are the future of Egypt and it is dangerous to kill hope in their souls," Mohamed ElBaradei said on Twitter.

As the law says, justice delayed is justice denied, he added.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: Iran has started enriching uranium with a third set of advanced IR-2m centrifuges at its underground plant at Natanz, the UN nuclear watchdog told its member states on Monday, a further breach of Tehran's 2015 deal with major powers, Reuters reported.

The move is part of a recent acceleration by Iran of its violations of restrictions under that deal, which granted Iran relief from financial sanctions in return for curbs to its nuclear activities.

VIENNA, March 4. /TASS/: All signs point to the fact that the E3 (France, Germany and the UK) have decided to refrain from approving a resolution criticizing Iran at the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), diplomatic sources in Vienna told TASS on Thursday.

"The acute conflict situation in the IAEA Board of Governors is close to being regulated. It seems that the UK, France and Germany have decided to abstain from pushing forward their draft resolution criticizing Tehran," diplomatic sources suggest.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has been given a chance to address the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s concerns on uranium particles found at undeclared, old sites and Washington will watch closely, the United States told the watchdog’s board on Thursday.

“Iran has now been given another opportunity by the Director General to offer up the necessary cooperation before this Board next meets,” the U.S. statement to the board said, shortly after diplomats said plans for a resolution criticising Iran had been scrapped.

VIENNA, February 7: Austria is ready to produce Russian and Chinese COVID-19 vaccines if they are registered by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper published on Sunday.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria will extend its COVID-19 lockdown, with the goal to start easing restrictions from Feb. 8, the government said on Sunday.

The catering sector and tourism will not be able to reopen in February, it added.

Austria, a country of 8.9 million people, is in its third lockdown, with only essential shops open. The country has reported nearly 390,000 coronavirus cases and almost 7,000 COVID-19-linked deaths since the pandemic began last year.

19 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday rejected the agency director's suggestion that reviving the Iranian nuclear deal after the new US administration comes to power will require a new agreement.