The UN nuclear watchdog's board of governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations on Thursday and Tehran announced counter-measures, as an Iranian official said a ‘friendly country’ had warned it of a potential Israeli attack.US and Iranian officials will hold a sixth round of talks on Tehran's escalating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on Sunday, according to US and Omani officials.But security concerns have risen since US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday American personnel were being moved out of the region because ‘it could be a dangerous place’ and that Tehran would not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon.Washington is concerned that Israel could take military action against Iran in coming days, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity, despite Trump's recent warning to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against such a strike while US diplomacy continues with Tehran.US intelligence indicates that Israel has been making preparations to hit Iran's nuclear installations. But one US official said there was no sign that Israel had made a final decision.Some foreign diplomats suggested that the evacuation of personnel, and U.S. officials anonymously raising the spectre of an Israel attack on Iran, could be a ploy to ratchet up pressure on Tehran for concessions at the negotiating table.Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that even if the country's nuclear facilities were destroyed by bombs they would be rebuilt.The International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in almost 20 years, raising the prospect of reporting it to the U.N. Security Council.Iran says its nuclear energy programme is only for peaceful purposes.Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad head David Barnea will go to Oman to meet US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff before the U.S.-Iran talks in another attempt to clarify Israel's position, Israeli media reported.U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a congressional hearing that ‘Netanyahu is going to put his country first and we're going to put our country first.’Iranian retaliation for any Israeli attack will be ‘more forceful and destructive’ than in the past, Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami told state media.
