Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a confidential report by the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday and called on Tehran to urgently change course and comply with the agency’s probe.

The report comes at a sensitive time as Tehran and Washington have been holding several rounds of talks in the past weeks over a possible nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump is trying to reach.

The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency — which was seen by The Associated Press — says that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%.

That’s an increase of 133.8 kilograms (294.9 pounds) — or almost 50% — since the IAEA’s last report in February. The 60% enriched material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. A report in February put this stockpile level at 274.8 kilograms (605.8 pounds).

There was no immediate comment from Tehran on the new IAEA report.

What does the report say?

The IAEA report raised a stern warning, saying that Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material” — something the agency said was of “serious concern.”

Approximately 42 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce one atomic bomb, if enriched further to 90%, according to the watchdog.

The IAEA report, a quarterly, also estimated that as of May 17, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium — which includes uranium enriched to lower levels — stood at 9,247.6 kilograms (20,387.4 pounds). That’s an increase of 953.2 kilograms (2,101.4 pounds) since February’s report.

Iran has maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but the IAEA chief, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.

Iranian officials have increasingly suggested that Tehran could pursue an atomic bomb.

US intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”

Israel’s swift reaction

Israel said Saturday’s report was a clear warning sign that “Iran is totally determined to complete its nuclear weapons program,” according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

It said IAEA’s report “strongly reinforces what Israel has been saying for years — the purpose of Iran’s nuclear program is not peaceful.”

It also added that Iran’s level of enrichment “has no civilian justification whatsoever” and appealed on the international community to “act now to stop Iran.”

Call for cooperation

Grossi said Saturday that he “reiterates his urgent call upon Iran to cooperate fully and effectively” with the IAEA’s years long investigation into uranium traces discovered at several sites in Iran.

The IAEA also circulated to member states on Saturday a second, 22-page confidential report, also seen by the AP, that Grossi requested following a resolution passed by the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors last November.

In this so-called “comprehensive report,” the IAEA said that Iran’s cooperation with the agency has “been less than satisfactory” when it comes to uranium traces discovered by IAEA inspectors at several locations in Iran that Tehran has failed to declare as nuclear sites.

Western officials suspect that the uranium traces discovered by the IAEA could provide evidence that Iran had a secret military nuclear program until 2003.

One of the sites became known publicly in 2018 after Netanyahu revealed it at the United Nations and called it a clandestine nuclear warehouse hidden at a rug-cleaning plant.

Iran denied this but in 2019 IAEA inspectors detected the presence of manmade uranium particles there.

What is the IAEA inspecting in Iran?

After initially blocking IAEA access, inspectors were able to collect samples in 2020 from two other locations where they also detected the presence of manmade uranium particles.

The three locations became known as Turquzabad, Varamin, and Marivan.

A fourth undeclared location named as Lavisan-Shian is also part of the IAEA probe but IAEA inspectors never visited the site because it was razed and demolished by Iran after 2003.

In Saturday’s comprehensive report, the IAEA says that the “lack of answers and clarifications provided by Iran” to questions the watchdog had regarding Lavisan-Shian, Varamin and Marivan “has led the agency to conclude that these three locations, and other possible related locations, were part of an undeclared structured nuclear program carried out by Iran until the early 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material.”

What’s next?

Saturday’s comprehensive report could be a basis for possible further steps by European nations, leading to a potential escalation in tensions between Iran and the West.

European countries could move to trigger snap-back sanctions against Iran that were lifted under the original 2015 nuclear deal ahead of October, when the deal formally expires.

On Thursday, senior Iranian officials dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasizing that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country’s nuclear program to continue.

The comments came a day after Trump said he has told Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran to give the US administration more time to push for a new deal with Tehran.

Trump said on Friday that he still thinks a deal could be completed in the “not too distant future.”

“They don’t want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal,” Trump said of Iran. He added, “That would be a great thing that we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East.”

The sale of disposable vapes will be banned in the United Kingdom from Sunday, as the country becomes the latest to tackle the “environmental nightmare” of the single-use devices. However, some campaigners warn that the new restrictions are just “a drop in the ocean” in the war against plastic waste.

The ban positions the UK among the first countries in Europe to legislate against disposable vapes, following similar moves in France and Belgium.

An estimated 8.2 million disposable vapes – the equivalent of 13 every second – are discarded in the UK every week, according to an analysis released by environmental group Material Focus in December.

In official guidance, the UK government described the disposable vapes as “eyesores,” and said their widespread disposal has “a hugely damaging impact on our environment and wildlife.” The plastics used in disposable vape products are “nearly impossible for nature to completely break down,” it added.

Improperly discarded batteries can ignite rubbish trucks and waste facilities, it added, with Material Focus linking such incidents to around 1,200 fires between May 2023 and May 2024.

“The ban will also help curb the rise in youth vaping,” the government said. “Over half of children who use vapes report that ‘disposable’ models are their product of choice.”

The legislation will not criminalize possession of disposable vapes. Instead, it targets retailers and distributors, who could face initial penalty fines of £200 ($270) for violations after Sunday. For continued breaches of the new law, an offender could be hit with further fines or a prison sentence.

For those already tackling the environmental fallout, the ban is long overdue.

“Vape producers are being infinitely creative with their products in order to avoid the forthcoming disposable vape ban,” he added.

Anticipating the shift, major vape manufacturers began adapting their product lines ahead of the legislation coming into force.

But, on the ground, one London retailer warned that consumer habits may prove harder to shift.

“The new vapes are also more expensive, which is more difficult for customers,” he added.

Ahead of the ban coming into force, John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said in a statement: “We’ve always maintained that bans are not the answer to the issues linked to the vaping industry, but enforcement of the laws that are already in place to protect children and the environment.” He warned that the measure could lead to a increase in vapers returning to cigarette smoking and create a black market for disposable products.

Vape use has surged in recent years. An estimated 5.6 million people vape in the UK, according to a survey carried out by public health charity Action on Smoking and Health last year.

Disposable vapes have proved popular among young adults trying to quit smoking, but their sleek design, bright packaging and sweet flavors have also appealed to teenagers. Almost 1 in 10 secondary school pupils in the UK vape “frequently,” according to a National Heath Service survey published in October, and a quarter of 11- to 15-year-olds have tried vaping.

“I would just put them in the bin, it didn’t feel like the right way,” said 17-year-old Brighton student Eaben Kusik. “It felt a bit wasteful throwing (away) the battery with the vape after three days.

“At first I thought, ‘I don’t like the government banning things,’ but I think it’s a good thing,” he added.

For environmental organization Greenpeace UK, the move marks progress – but not nearly enough.

A separate Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently making its way through parliament, would give ministers power to further restrict vape packaging, flavors, and marketing – particularly those seen as targeting children.

ISIS has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces – the first since the transitional government under former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa took office.

The terror group, also known as Islamic State, said it had killed and injured seven members of “the apostate Syrian regime” with an explosive device that was detonated on a road in southern Syria. It said the attack took place in the remote desert area of Talul al Safa in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda.

Units of the Free Syrian Army are supported by the US military in what is called the al Tanf Deconfliction Zone close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt, where the US has a small outpost.

The source added that the Talul al Safa area is “extremely rugged and dangerous area, as ISIS had been exploiting its terrain for a long time.”

ISIS lost almost all the territory it controlled in Syria by the end of 2017 but has maintained a foothold in Syria’s vast central desert. ISIS claimed another attack in the same area several days ago.

The Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War says the group has likely maintained cells in southern Syria despite not carrying out any attacks there for at least two years.

The US and other Western governments have urged the new Syrian government to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups on Syrian soil. But the government has struggled to extend its authority to Suwayda, where there have been clashes between Druze and Sunni groups.

Nearly 80 aid trucks traveling through southern and central Gaza were looted by desperate civilians on Saturday, the UN World Food Programme said as famine conditions worsen in the Palestinian enclave.

In a statement issued on X, the WFP said 77 trucks had crossed into Gaza loaded with flour. All of them “were stopped along the way, with food taken mainly by hungry people trying to feed their families.”

It added that “after 80 days of a total blockade, communities are starving – and they are no longer willing to let food pass them by.”

WFP said in a post on X on Saturday that “the humanitarian situation in #Gaza is spiraling. Border closures, hunger, and desperation have made aid delivery volatile — trucks are looted, people risk everything for a bag of flour.”

“To restore hope, ease fear and prevent further chaos we must flood communities with food – now.”

Videos showed dozens of people in Khan Younis carrying away sacks of flour. Similar scenes played out in Netzarim, where bursts of gunfire could be heard as crowds rushed to grab sacks of flour.

Hunger has spread in Gaza, with UN agencies warning of impending famine without a drastic scaling up of aid entering the territory and being distributed across it. There have been multiple incidents of looting.

The United Arab Emirates said last week that only one of 24 truckloads it had organized had reached the planned destination.

Last week, chaos broke out when tens of thousands of starving Palestinians arrived at two new food distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). According to the Palestinian health ministry, 11 people were killed and dozens injured in that incident.

The GHF, a controversial private foundation backed by Israel and the US, says it is continuing to scale up distribution at its four hubs in central and southern Gaza. It said that on Saturday it had distributed 30 truckloads of food totaling 28,800 boxes at its hub in Rafah in southern Gaza, adding that “today’s meal distribution was the largest to date and five times more than yesterday.”

The UN’s aid agencies have criticized the GHF’s aid mechanism, saying it violates humanitarian principles and raises the risks for Palestinians.

Philippe Lazzarini, executive director of UNRWA – the UN agency that serves Palestinian territories – said 900 trucks had reportedly been sent into Gaza over the past two weeks, since an Israeli blockade was partially relaxed. The UN also says that it is struggling to coordinate safe distribution of aid inside Gaza once it arrives.

“That’s just over 10 per cent of the daily needs of people in Gaza. The aid that’s being sent now makes a mockery to the mass tragedy unfolding under our watch,” Lazzarini posted on X, comparing the quantity to the 600 to 800 truckloads coming into Gaza daily during the ceasefire earlier this year.

“The current mass starvation can be stopped. It takes political will,” he said.

India’s military has acknowledged for the first time that an unspecified number of its fighter jets were shot down during strikes on Pakistani-controlled territory amid intense fighting between the neighbors in early May.

Indian officials had previously refused to confirm even a single aircraft loss.

Asked by a Bloomberg correspondent on Saturday if Pakistan was correct in its claim that “six Indian jets” were downed, Anil Chauhan, the chief of defense staff of the Indian Armed Forces, initially denied the veracity of the claim, stating: “Absolutely incorrect and that is not information which, as I said, is important.”

But he went on to say that “what is important is why they went down,” seeming to imply that a number of jets were shot down during fighting between the historic foes, although not confirming how many. “That is more important for us. And what did we do after that? That’s more important,” he said, speaking to Bloomberg’s Haslinda Amin while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier defense forum, in Singapore.

The official also accepted that India’s military had made a “tactical mistake,” in response to another question about Pakistan’s claim.

“The good part is we were able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets, again targeting at long range,” he said.

Pakistan claimed its pilots shot down five Indian fighter jets in aerial battles – including three advanced French-made Rafales – after India launched its military operation against Pakistan in early May. Pakistan said it used Chinese-made fighter jets to shoot down the Indian combat aircraft, including the Rafales.

The fighting was a major escalation between the South Asian neighbors and came in response to the killing of tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir in April. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, an accusation rejected by Islamabad. A truce between Islamabad and New Delhi was announced on May 10.