“The exposure of Iran’s systematic program to deceive the IAEA is a wake-up call for the world,” says Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
By Gil Tanenbaum, TPS
On Wednesday, a report in The Wall Street Journal revealed new evidence that exposes Iran’s deception of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The report was based on evidence that was obtained by Israeli intelligence.
This news comes just as President Joe Biden decided to keep the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “in their rightful place” – on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) list.
According to the Journal, Iranian agents were able to obtain IAEA reports. These reports let Iran’s nuclear officials know ahead of time what the world body was going to review and so they were able to prepare ahead of time for any nuclear inspection conducted.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett commented on what he called Iran’s systematic 20-year deception of the IAEA. However, it should be noted that the report only referred to incidents committed in the past and not on an ongoing operation.
“The exposure of Iran’s systematic program to deceive the IAEA – which was based around documents that Iran stole from the IAEA – is a wake-up call to the world,” declared the Prime Minister. “This is additional proof of Iranian efforts to advance toward achieving nuclear weapons.”
Bennett said that Iran’s continuing policy of fraud, theft and the concealing of evidence from the IAEA should now become a definitive fact in the eyes of the international community.
“The IAEA is a professional body that serves as the international ‘gatekeeper’ against the spread of nuclear weapons,” he added. “I welcome the persistence of IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Gross in not closing the open files until today – for which there was ample justification.”
Apart from the deception, asserted Bennett, the uncovered documents attest to “prohibited and ongoing nuclear activity, which reveals new issues that demand an investigation.”
“In light of the foregoing,” he declared, “the time has come for the IAEA Board of Governors to issue a clear message to Iran: Enough!”