IAEA increasingly concerned over Iran’s nuclear weapon capability

See more Times of Israel on Google - add us as a Preferred Source

By AFP 26 February 2024, 9:50 pm 6 Edit

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, visits an exhibition of the country's nuclear achievements, at his office compound in Tehran, Iran, June 11, 2023. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader, Via AP,)

The UN nuclear watchdog has voiced growing concern over Iran’s ability to build nuclear weapons, fuelled by public statements in the country, a confidential report seen by AFP said.

Tensions between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have repeatedly flared up since a 2015 deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief fell apart.

In the report, IAEA head Rafael Grossi says that “public statements made in Iran regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons only increase the director general’s concerns about the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguards declarations.”

In recent years, Iran has gradually decreased its cooperation with the IAEA by deactivating surveillance devices needed to monitor the nuclear program and barring inspectors among other measures.

Grossi reiterates his call on Tehran to “cooperate fully and unambiguously with the agency,” as relations between the two parties have been steadily deteriorating.

“Only through constructive and meaningful engagement can these concerns be addressed,” Grossi said in a confidential quarterly report.

Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear program and now has enough material to build several atomic bombs.