Findings include 2003 tests of detonator for nuclear bomb; UN watchdog also says Tehran now has enough uranium, if enriched further, for 9 bombs; Netanyahu’s office urges world to ‘act now to stop Iran’
VIENNA — Iran carried out secret nuclear activities with material not declared to the UN nuclear watchdog at three locations that have long been under investigation, the watchdog said in a wide-ranging, confidential report to member states seen by Reuters.
The findings in the “comprehensive” International Atomic Energy Agency report, requested by the agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors in November, pave the way for a push by the United States, Britain, France and Germany for the board to declare Iran in violation of its non-proliferation obligations.
A resolution would infuriate Iran and could further complicate nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.
Using the IAEA report’s findings, the four Western powers plan to submit a draft resolution for the board to adopt at its next meeting the week of June 9, diplomats say. It would be the first time in almost 20 years that Iran has formally been found in non-compliance.
Iran’s foreign ministry rejected the report as “politically motivated” and said Tehran will take “appropriate measures” in response to any effort to take action against the country at the Board of Governors meeting, state media reported, without elaborating.
While many of the findings relate to activities dating back decades and have been made before, the IAEA report’s conclusions were more definitive. It summarized developments in recent years and pointed more clearly towards coordinated, secret activities, some of which were relevant to producing nuclear weapons.
It also spelled out that Iran’s cooperation with IAEA continues to be “less than satisfactory” in “a number of respects.” The IAEA is still seeking explanations for uranium traces found years ago at two of four sites it has been investigating. Three hosted secret experiments, it found.
The IAEA has concluded that “these three locations, and other possible related locations, were part of an undeclared structured nuclear program carried out by Iran until the early 2000s” and that “some activities used undeclared nuclear material,” the report said.
Nuclear material and/or heavily contaminated equipment from that program was stored at the fourth site, Turquzabad, between 2009 and 2018, it said.
The Turquzabad site became known publicly in 2018 after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed it at the United Nations and called it a clandestine nuclear warehouse hidden at a rug-cleaning plant.
Iran denied this, but in 2019, IAEA inspectors detected the presence of manmade uranium particles there.
“The Agency concludes that Iran did not declare nuclear material and nuclear-related activities at three undeclared locations in Iran, specifically, Lavisan-Shian, Varamin, and Turquzabad,” the report said.
At Lavisan-Shian in Tehran, a disc made of uranium metal was “used in the production of explosively-driven neutron sources” at least twice in 2003, a process designed to initiate the explosion in a nuclear weapon, the report said, adding that it was part of “small-scale” tests.
More immediately, it is likely to lead to Iran again accelerating or expanding its rapidly advancing program, as it has done after previous rebukes at the board. It could also further complicate talks with the United States aimed at reining in that program.
Enough for nine bombs
A separate IAEA report sent to member states on Saturday said Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, had grown by roughly half to 408.6 kg. That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
Approximately 42 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce one atomic bomb, if enriched further to 90%, according to the watchdog.
The IAEA report raised a stern warning, saying that Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material” — something the agency said was of “serious concern.”
There was no immediate comment from Tehran on the new IAEA report.
Netanyahu: Act now
In a rare statement on a Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, Netanyahu’s office said the report showed that Iran’s nuclear program was not peaceful and that Tehran remained determined to complete its nuclear weapons plans.
“The international community must act now to stop Iran,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, adding that the level of uranium enrichment Iran had reached “exists only in countries actively pursuing nuclear weapons and has no civilian justification whatsoever.”
Iranian officials have increasingly suggested that Tehran could pursue an atomic bomb.
US intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to seriously begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”
Call for Iranian cooperation
Grossi said Saturday that he “reiterates his urgent call upon Iran to cooperate fully and effectively” with the IAEA’s years-long investigation into uranium traces discovered at several sites in Iran.
In Saturday’s report, the IAEA said that the “lack of answers and clarifications provided by Iran” has led the agency to conclude that the secret locations, and other possible related locations, were part of an undeclared structured nuclear program carried out by Iran until the early 2000s and that “some activities used undeclared nuclear material.”
It specifically noted Tehran’s lack of progress in explaining nuclear material found at undeclared sites.
“In particular, Iran has repeatedly either not answered or not provided technically credible answers to the agency’s questions and has sanitized locations as listed in this report, which has impeded agency verification activities.”
US President Donald Trump has said he told Netanyahu to hold off on a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear sites to give the US administration more time to push for a new deal with Tehran.
The US president said on Friday that he still thinks a deal could be completed in the “not too distant future.”
“They don’t want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal,” Trump said of Iran. He added, “That would be a great thing that we could have a deal without bombs being dropped all over the Middle East.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said later on Saturday that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff “has sent a detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime, and it’s in their best interest to accept it.” She declined to provide further details.
On Thursday, senior Iranian officials dismissed speculation about an imminent nuclear deal with the United States, emphasizing that any agreement must fully lift sanctions and allow the country’s nuclear program to continue.
Iran, which avowedly seeks Israel’s destruction, has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. However, it has been enriching uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities, and its officials have increasingly warned that they could pursue the bomb.
According to the IAEA, Iran is the only country in the world that enriches uranium up to 60%, a level that has no civilian use. That rate is still just below the 90% threshold required for a nuclear weapon, but far above the 3.67% limit set under a 2015 agreement with world powers.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-has-further-increased-production-of-near-weapons-grade-uranium-un-watchdog-says/.
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