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Category: World News

UN urges diplomacy as Iran hits nuclear ‘gas pedal,’ conservative commentator tells Trump ‘do not appease’

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The United Nations atomic watchdog on Wednesday sounded the alarm that Iran has hit the “gas pedal” on its nuclear development and urged diplomacy just two days after President Donald Trump re-entered the White House.

The Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told world leaders at the Davos World Economic Forum that Iran has roughly enough uranium, if enriched further, to develop nearly five nuclear weapons.

Rafael Grossi warned that Iran currently possesses roughly 440 pounds of near-weapons grade uranium that has been enriched to the 60% purity threshold, shy of the 90% purity levels needed to develop a nuclear bomb. Roughly 92 pounds of weapons-grade uranium is enough to create one nuclear bomb, reported Reuters.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi looks on as he addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Sept. 9, 2024. (REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo)

TASK FORCE CREATED IN AFRICA TO COUNTER TERROR FEARS FROM IRAN AND JIHADI GROUPS

“One can gather from the first statements from President Trump and some others in the new administration that there is a disposition, so to speak, to have a conversation and perhaps move into some form of an agreement,” Grossi said.

Conservative allies of Trump have called on the president to continue with his maximum pressure campaign that was implemented against Iran during his first presidency. Mark Levin, host of Fox News show “Life, Liberty & Levin,” on Tuesday urged the president to “not appease” Tehran when it comes to its nuclear deal.

“Do not embrace the discredited ‘diplomatic solutions’ of the Biden and Obama regimes and think deals can be made with mass murdering terrorists,” Levin said in a post on X. “You do not negotiate with genocidal maniacs, pure and simple.

“Do not appease, as their bloodthirsty ideology cannot be appeased only destroyed,” he warned.

According to the Grossi, Iran has increased its production of uranium enriched to 60% purity levels from an average of 15 pounds each month to more than 65 pounds.

“I think this is a clear indication of an acceleration. They are pressing the gas pedal,” Grossi told reporters, according to Reuters.

The IAEA chief said that while it will take time for Iran to develop the extra centrifuges needed to create more enriched uranium, he believes the international community can expect “to start seeing steady increases from now.”

Iranian newspapers that report Donald Trump has officially taken office as president of the United States are viewed on Jan. 21, 2025 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

It is unclear what comments issued by the new Trump administration led Grossi to believe that it might be open to diplomacy given Trump’s repeated commitments to hit Iran with stiff sanctions in a move to end Tehran’s support of state-sponsored terrorism and counter its nuclear program.

Republicans have ardently objected to diplomatic efforts in the past, and Trump, in 2018, pulled the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an international deal that looked to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

Reports this week claimed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had prohibited the development of a nuclear weapon in an apparent olive branch to Trump, though Fox News Digital could not independently confirm this. This alleged ban also would not necessarily prohibit Tehran from developing its nuclear program.

JOHN FETTERMAN AND LINDSEY GRAHAM ADVOCATE FOR THE DESTRU

President Donald Trump stands after delivering remarks on AI infrastructure at the Roosevelt room at White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

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Fox News Digital could not immediately reach the White House to confirm whether Trump plans to pursue any diplomatic efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear program.

January 22, 2025
Mother of missing Marine veteran calls Trump admin a ‘breath of fresh air’ as she continues 12-year search

Debra Tice has spent more than 12 years searching for her son, Austin Tice, a Marine veteran and journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012.

Through four presidential administrations, she has not lost hope that her son will come home alive. In fact, she calls the new Trump administration a “breath of fresh air.”

“They are thinking about what they need to do, making suggestions, standing ready, having ideas. The burden isn’t on me the way it has been in the past,” Tice told Fox News Digital, referring to the Trump administration.

The Marine veteran’s mother’s first trip back to Damascus, Syria, in over 10 years comes on the heels of a revolution within the war-torn country. Debra Tice has been in Syria for only a few days, but she has already managed to meet with the country’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad.

“It was really quite a surprise that we were able to get a meeting with al-Sharaa. It was a very good meeting,” Tice said.

SYRIA RESCUE-MISSION OPERATOR BELIEVES AUSTIN TICE IS ALIVE AND WILL BE FOUND SOON

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, right, meets with Debra Tice, the mother of American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, and Nizar Zakka, head of non-profit Hostage Aid Worldwide, center, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (SANA via AP)

Hostage Aid Worldwide, a non-profit organization coordinating Tice’s visit to Syria, was able to take her inside some of the prisons that have been abandoned since the fall of Assad. She said that seeing the conditions in these prisons was “really challenging,” but that she appreciated getting a sense of “what Austin was up against.”

Tice also issued a challenge to those in the U.S. government who “feel like Austin can wait” to go see the prisons for themselves.

“I think if they had to come over here – and I wouldn’t even ask them to spend the night in one of those prisons – but I think if they had gone to see what he may have gone through, maybe they would’ve been more motivated to get Austin out of there.”

TREY YINGST ENTERS ABANDONED SYRIAN DETENTION SITE IN SEARCH FOR MISSING AMERICAN JOURNALIST AUSTIN TICE

Debra Tice, mother of missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice who disappeared while reporting in Syria in August 2012, attends a press conference as she urged President Donald Trump to help reveal her son’s fate in Damascus, Syria, on Jan. 20, 2025. (Bekir Kasim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

During a press conference on Monday, Tice offered praise for the incoming Trump administration and confirmed that they have “already reached out” regarding Austin’s case.

“I haven’t experienced that in the past four years, but I am optimistic about their help and involvement. I believe they will act quickly,” Tice said.

Tice also used the press conference to send an emotional message to her missing son. “Austin, if you can hear this somehow, I love you. I know you won’t give up, and I won’t give up either,” Tice said.

Tice added she has “never had any doubt about the fact that Austin is going to walk free. It’s a matter of time, and in my faith it’s God’s timing.”

When speaking about her hope and optimism about finding her son, Tice credited her faith as “100 percent.” She added that, “if I didn’t have my faith, I just think I would crumble into a bunch of really small pieces.”

COLLAPSE OF SYRIA’S ASSAD REGIME RENEWS US PUSH TO FIND AUSTIN TICE

The State Department’s Reward for Justice program is offering $10 million for information relating to locating Austin Tice. (The State Department’s Reward for Justice)

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “intensive efforts are still underway to find Austin Tice.” Additionally, the spokesperson said that the department is “working to get U.S. officials into Damascus” to aid in the search but is waiting for confirmation that the”conditions are safe and local authorities can accommodate the visit.”

“We have used relevant information, as well as declassified intelligence, to inform the search efforts of Syrian and international partners on the ground in Damascus who are searching for Austin every day,” the spokesperson added.

“They have visited and searched numerous now-uncovered secret prisons, but to date they have not found Austin or any additional information that would help us locate him.”

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Last month, after receiving a letter from Debra Tice, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to ask Assad for help finding Austin. However, as of now, there are no signs that this has happened.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

January 22, 2025
Taiwan Air Force officer killed after being ‘inhaled’ by fighter jet’s engine

A Taiwanese Air Force officer died after being sucked into the engine of a fighter jet, officials said.

The incident reportedly happened at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base on Tuesday while the master sergeant was performing a pre-shutdown inspection of the aircraft.

Taiwan’s Air Force said the officer was “inhaled by the engine for unknown reasons.” She later was pronounced dead after life-saving efforts were unsuccessful.

“In response to media reports that ‘it is suspected that an instructor’s throttle application caused a female officer to be inhaled by a fighter jet,’ the Air Force Command stated that the case is currently being investigated by a task force in cooperation with prosecutors to clarify the cause,” it added.

TAIWAN HAILS IMPORTANCE OF US RELATIONSHIP, SAYS GROUP VISITS ‘CONTRIBUTE TO PEACE AND STABILITY’

A Taiwanese Air Force ground crew mounts a Sky Sword II missile onto an Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft as part of a combat readiness exercise at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on Jan. 8. (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

Officials say they are “deeply saddened” by the death.

Taiwan’s Air Force also said that it will “fully assist the family in handling the aftermath” and that it will “conduct a comprehensive review and improve the work process to prevent similar cases from happening again.”

CHINA WARNS US TO STOP ARMING TAIWAN AFTER BIDEN APPROVES $571 MILLION IN MILITARY AID

A Taiwanese air force pilot climbs into the cockpit of his Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft during a scramble as part of a combat readiness exercise at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on Jan. 7, 2025. (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

The plane involved in the incident was an Indigenous Defense Fighter, the Taipei Times reported, adding that the victim served in the military for around 17 years.

A source familiar with the aircraft told the Taipei Times that the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into its engine – which has a fairly small intake opening — is “miniscule.”

The source said after the plane lands, its motor speed is on a slow rotation and should have been stopped by the time the wheel chocks were being deployed at the base.

A Taiwanese Air Force Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft takes off during a scramble as part of a combat readiness exercise at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on Jan. 7. (I-Hwa Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

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Security cameras installed in the hangar of the base should provide the full picture as to what happened, the source added.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

January 22, 2025