UN Nuclear Watchdog Has 'Serious Concern' at Iran Denying Inspections

By Jastinder Khera

Iran has now accumulated enriched uranium at nearly eight times the limit of a 2015 deal and has for months blocked inspections at sites where historic nuclear activity may have occurred, the UN watchdog said Friday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) noted "with serious concern that, for over four months, Iran has denied access to the Agency... to two locations," according to a report seen by AFP.

The IAEA has questions as to the possible "use or storage of nuclear material" at the two sites and that one of them "may have been used for the processing and conversion of uranium ore including fluorination in 2003".

The aforementioned site "underwent significant changes in 2004, including the demolition of most buildings", the IAEA report noted.

A third site where the IAEA has queries about the possible presence of undeclared natural uranium "underwent extensive sanitization and leveling in 2003 and 2004," according to the report.

The findings are expected to be discussed at a meeting of the agency's board of governors, which has been delayed until the week starting June 15.

The United States has been particularly vocal in its criticism of Iran for 
refusing access to the sites.

A diplomatic source said that they "expect that the board will be united to request Iran to provide access" for the agency.

Escalating Tensions

In a separate report, the IAEA warned that Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is now almost eight times the limit set in a 2015 deal.

The limit was 300 kilograms (661 pounds) of enriched uranium in a particular compound form, which is the equivalent of 202.8 kg of uranium. 

In comparison to the latter number, the report said Iran's stockpile stood at 1,571.6 kg on May 20.

The highest level of enrichment in the stockpile is currently 4.5 percent, over the deal's limit of 3.67 percent but far below the more than 90 percent level experts say would be necessary for a nuclear weapon.

A diplomatic source said that Iran's rate of enrichment had not significantly changed since the agency's previous report on the issue in early March. 

The IAEA says that it still has access to all the nuclear sites needed in order to monitor Iran's current nuclear activity despite difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency has been chartering aircraft to get its inspectors to Iran due to the collapse in availability of commercial flights to the country, which has been hard hit COVID-19.

Inspectors are also being tested for the virus before departing for Iran and before they return. 

Iran has been progressively breaking the restrictions laid down in the 2015 deal in retaliation for US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the accord in 2018 and the US's subsequent re-imposition of sanctions. 

Iran reached the deal to curb its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief with the United States—under president Barack Obama—Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

Last week the US said it was ending waivers in its sanctions for nations that remain in the Iran nuclear accord, bringing the deal further to the verge of collapse.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated after Trump abandoned the deal and the long-standing enemies have appeared to come to the brink of a direct conflict twice in the past year.

The most recent was in January when Iran fired a barrage of missiles at US troops stationed in Iraq in retaliation for a US drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general.

 Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday brushed aside Trump's hopes of diplomatic progress after the two countries carried out a prisoner swap.

"We achieved humanitarian swap *despite* your subordinates' efforts," Zarif tweeted, emphasizing that it was the US that had walked away from the 2015 deal.

Photo: Wikicommons

Netanyahu Says Has New 'Proof' of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address Monday he had new "proof" of an Iranian nuclear weapons plan that could be activated at any time, as the US considers whether to pull out of the atomic accord with Tehran.

But while Netanyahu accused Israel's main enemy Iran of lying about its nuclear ambitions, he did not provide evidence that it had actively worked to obtain an atomic weapon since the 2015 agreement between Tehran and six world powers.

Iran has always denied it sought a nuclear weapon, insisting its atomic program was for civilian purposes.

Netanyahu made the comments in an elaborate presentation that included props, video and slides, broadcast live on television from Tel Aviv.

He said Israel had obtained tens of thousands of files "a few weeks ago in a great intelligence achievement," saying they had been moved to a secret compound in Tehran in 2017 that looked dilapidated from the outside.

The material obtained weighed a half a ton, he said. As he spoke, binders that he said held copies of original documents were on shelves behind him, as were cases containing CDs.

"Tonight we're going to reveal new and conclusive proof of the secret nuclear weapons program that Iran has been hiding for years from the international community in its secret atomic archive," Netanyahu said.

"We're going to show you Iran's secret nuclear files." He then laid out what he said was a years-old secret nuclear weapons program stored away and which could be put into action at any time. The details have been shared with the United States and will also be given to other countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said.

'Boy Who Cries Wolf'

After Netanyahu's statement was announced but before he spoke, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif already dismissed it. "The boy who can't stop crying wolf is at it again," he wrote on Twitter. 

"You can only fool some of the people so many times." Zarif then took to twitter again to lambast both Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, who has a May 12 deadline to decide on whether or not to walk away from the nuclear deal.

Trump "is jumping on a rehash of old allegations already dealt with by the IAEA to 'nix' the (2015 nuclear) deal", Zarif tweeted.

"How convenient. Coordinated timing of alleged intelligence revelations by the boy who cries wolf just days before May 12," he added.

Trump has derided the nuclear deal with Iran as "insane" partly because its restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities begin expiring in 2025.

Most world powers however say the nuclear deal is working as intended for now and is the best way to keep Iran from acquiring the bomb.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany left Washington last week after talks with Trump which failed to secure any promise to keep the deal alive.

'Dominate the Middle East' 

The Israeli premier has repeatedly called for the accord—which Iran signed with Britain, France, China, Russia, the United States and Germany— to either be altered or scrapped.

He says the agreement does not prevent Tehran from eventually obtaining nuclear weapons and says the lifting of sanctions has increased Tehran's ability to finance proxy militants in the Middle East.

Netanyahu also wants to see curbs on Iran's missile program. On Monday, he said the nuclear deal was "based on Iranian lies and Iranian deception."

"Even after the deal, Iran continued to preserve and expand its nuclear weapons know-how for future use," Netanyahu said.

His presentation came after he met visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday and spoke with Trump by phone on Saturday. Pompeo reiterated during the visit that Trump will withdraw from the nuclear deal "if we can't fix it."

Trump and his Middle East allies argue the deal, approved by Barack Obama,  was too weak and needs to be replaced with a more permanent arrangement and supplemented by controls on Iran's missile program.

Pompeo, a former CIA chief and congressman, also joined Netanyahu in lashing out at Iran on Sunday. "Iran's ambition to dominate the Middle East remains," Pompeo said.

Rob Malley, a former official in Obama's administration, said on Twitter that "for those who have followed the Iranian nuclear file, there is nothing new in (Netanyahu's) presentation".

"All it does is vindicate need for the nuclear deal. But the Israeli prime minister has an audience of one: Trump. And he's unfortunately unlikely to reach the same conclusion."

Israel is considered the Middle East's sole nuclear-armed nation, though it has never acknowledged the capability.

Photo Credit: Kremlin