Head of UN nuclear watchdog agency warns Iran of “bad” consequences if IAEA not allowed into sites where illegal activity took place.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency warned Iran Wednesday that there would be “bad” consequences if the Islamic Republic does not give access by the end of July to two sites where undeclared nuclear activities are suspected to have taken place, Radio Farda reported.
“I keep insisting on the absolute necessity for us to resolve this issue very soon,” said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency, said the allegations were based on evidence “fabricated” by Israeli agents, Radio Farda reported.
Grossi said the issue of IAEA access to inspect the sites was not going to just go away, and he urged Iran’s government to stop stonewalling and give IAEA inspectors access to the sites.
The IAEA issued a report in June detailing Iranian failures to comply with its international nuclear commitments.
“The Agency identified a number of questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three locations in Iran that had not been declared by Iran,” the report stated.
“The Agency notes with serious concern that, for over four months, Iran has denied access … to two locations and, for almost a year, has not engaged in substantive discussions to clarify Agency questions related to possible undeclared nuclear material and nuclear-related activities in Iran,” the report said.
Reuters reports the two sites were demolished in a possible bid by Iran to eliminating traces of enriched uranium that would prove illegal Iranian activity.
In 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that one of the sites was a “secret atomic warehouse.”
“Israel knows what you are doing and where you are doing it,” Netanyahu declared. “Israel will never let a regime that calls for our destruction develop nuclear weapons — not now, not in 10 years, not ever.”