Saudi Arabia has donated $3.5 million to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The majority ($2.5 million) will go towards the IAEA initiative to help modernize its Seibersdorf laboratories in Austria.
Funding will go towards strengthening the agency’s regulatory capabilities in order to maximize the benefits of nuclear technology.
It will also be used in part to provide resources and services to IAEA members states to ensure the safe use of nuclear technology.
The remaining $1 million will support the agency’s initiative to combat zoonotic diseases using nuclear technology.
“These donations come as an extension of the Kingdom's continuous support for the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its initiatives aimed at developing its capabilities in a manner that enhances its vital role in harnessing the atom for peace,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
The IAEA, which is the United Nations’ nuclear non-proliferation body, is currently probing traces of enriched uranium found at several research sites in Iran.
Iran’s foreign minister said last week that the IAEA should drop its probes, as talks continue between the Islamic republic and the US aimed at reviving a 2015 deal that would lift sanctions.
The White House responded on Friday, saying that dropping the probes should not be a condition for reviving the deal.
Read more:
White House rejects linking Iran nuclear deal, IAEA probes
US still hoping for Iran nuclear deal, ‘but we’re not going to stay at it forever’
Show US Congress full text of Iran nuclear deal, 50 lawmakers tell Biden
Also Read
-
White House rejects linking Iran nuclear deal, IAEA probes
There should be no conditionality between the re-implementation of the Iran nuclear deal and verifying whether Tehran has upheld its obligations under ... Middle East -
US still hoping for Iran nuclear deal, ‘but we’re not going to stay at it forever’
“Sanctions relief are a part of this deal in return for not allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” a White House official tells Al Arabiya. Middle East -
Show US Congress full text of Iran nuclear deal, 50 lawmakers tell Biden
“Strengthened with an estimated one trillion dollars in sanctions relief over a decade, Iran and the IRGC would be an enormous danger to Americans at home and abroad, and to our allies,” the bipartisan group of lawmakers says. Middle East
