The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Monday that the Iranian regime had repeatedly refused to provide his agency with credible answers regarding its nuclear activities at undeclared sites.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi told the agency’s Board of Governors meeting in Vienna that he has been seeking explanations from the Islamic Republic regarding the presence of uranium particles found at the undeclared Varamin, Marivan and Turquzabad locations.
“Iran has repeatedly either not answered or not provided technically credible answers to the agency’s questions,” he stated, accusing it of seeking to “sanitize the locations,” impeding the IAEA’s activities.
“The agency also concludes that Iran did not declare nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at these three undeclared locations in Iran,” Grossi told members of the 35-member policy-making body.
“As a consequence of this, the agency is not in a position to determine whether the related nuclear material is still outside of safeguards,” said Grossi, meaning that the IAEA is unable to verify that nuclear materials are properly accounted for and were not diverted for undeclared uses.
Unless Tehran cooperates with the IAEA to resolve the outstanding issues, the organization “will not be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful,” according to him.
Speaking with reporters at a press conference after his remarks to the quarterly meeting, Grossi accused the regime in Tehran of having obtained highly confidential documents belonging to the IAEA.
“This dates to a few years ago, but we could determine with all clarity that documents that belong to the agency were in the hands of Iranian authorities, which is bad,” Grossi told journalists, adding: “We believe that an action like this is not compatible with the spirit of cooperation.”
In response to a question about the possibility of Israeli military action against Iranian nuclear sites, Grossi said that his agency was actively seeking to reduce the escalating tensions in the Middle East.
“We are trying to solve this without the use of violence or force,” Grossi stated. “If it’s done correctly, thoroughly, with a very strong verification and monitoring chapter from us, it would give the necessary assurance for Israel and for the world that there is nothing to be feared coming from there.”
Regarding Iranian claims that the regime acquired sensitive intelligence data through hacking on alleged Israeli nuclear activities, Grossi said that the IAEA did not receive any information regarding the files.
“This seems to refer to Soreq [Nuclear Research Center], which is a research facility that we inspect, by the way,” explained Grossi.
“Normally, people tell me, ‘You don’t inspect Israel.’ Yes, we do … We don’t inspect other strategic parts of the program, but we do inspect Soreq,” added the Argentinian diplomat.
Israeli security analysts have dismissed Tehran’s claims as psychological warfare, while Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib warned on Monday that the seized documents would “soon” be made public.
The United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom are set to introduce a resolution at the IAEA meeting this week that would find the Islamic Republic in noncompliance with its nuclear safeguards obligations.
In May, the IAEA issued a confidential report to its board members, reportedly concluding that Tehran concealed nuclear activities and failed to declare materials at three sites.
A separate report circulated the same day concluded that the regime has enough nuclear material to build approximately nine nuclear weapons, though its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium remains shy of the 90% purity threshold considered “weapons grade.”
The United States and Iran are currently engaged in negotiations for an agreement seeking to curtail the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to hold a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, according to Hebrew media reports. The premier is scheduled to hold a discussion with ministers on the issue of Iran following the call, the Ynet news website reported.
{Matzav.com}