Report: Iran hiding important components of its nuclear program from UN inspectors.
By Algemeiner Staff
Western intelligence officials believe Iran is concealing important components of its nuclear program from UN inspectors, the UK’s Telegraph reported this week, citing unnamed sources.
Iran is required under the 2015 nuclear deal reached under the Obama administration to disclose all nuclear materials and equipment to international inspectors, who can make regular inspections of nuclear sites. Former president Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal in 2018, but Iran and other countries such as Britain, Germany, and France are still signatories.
Now, The Telegraph reported, intelligence officials believe Iran is hiding materials related to centrifuges used to enrich uranium. They are thought to be held in secret sites under the control of the Iranian military’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which the US lists as a terror group.
The materials are reportedly concealed in 75 separate containers that are regularly shuttled around the country to avoid discovery.
A senior Western intelligence source told the British paper, “The new revelations that Iran is trying to conceal vital elements of its nuclear program from the outside world shows that Tehran has no intention of complying with its international obligations under the terms of the nuclear deal.”
“It is yet another indication that the regime remains committed to acquiring nuclear weapons,” the official said.
Much of the material, intelligence officials believe, has been acquired since the 2015 deal by clandestine means.