The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, confirmed that most of Iran’s enriched uranium survived the 12-day war with Israel in June and remains stored in damaged nuclear facilities, contradicting earlier reports of the strikes’ impact.
In an interview last week with the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said the agency’s new findings indicate that “the majority” of Iran’s enriched uranium “remains in the nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Fordow, and some in Natanz.”
Earlier this year, Israel, with support from the United States, carried out a large-scale military strike against the Islamist regime in Tehran, targeting three critical nuclear enrichment sites, including the heavily fortified Fordow facility.
According to Grossi, the three facilities were “massively damaged” in the strikes, restricting the IAEA’s access to them — and the enriched uranium inside — without “Iran’s full cooperation.”
However, Grossi’s latest assessment appears to somewhat contradict earlier reportsfrom the White House, which claimed Iran’s nuclear facilities were “totally obliterated” and its nuclear program set back by years. US and Israeli intelligence reports have indicated the Iranian program could be set back anywhere from one or two to “several” years.
After the 12-day war with Israel, Iran halted its cooperation with the IAEA, accusing the agency of failing to firmly condemn the Israeli and US strikes.
On Monday, Tehran confirmed it ended the cooperation deal signed with the IAEA in September — which had allowed the agency to resume inspections of its nuclear sites — after Western powers reinstated UN sanctions last month.
This past weekend, Iranian officials also announced that the country is no longer party to the 2015 nuclear deal, under which economic sanctions were lifted in exchange for limits on Tehran’s nuclear program, following the deal’s expiration on Saturday.
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, “all provisions [of the 2015 nuclear deal], including the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and the related mechanisms, are now considered terminated.”
Still, the regime emphasized that the country “firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy.”
No comments:
Post a Comment