BRUSSELS – UN inspectors have found new evidence of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran, according to three diplomats on the discovery, raising new questions about the scope of the country’s atomic ambitions.
Samples taken from two sites during the autumn inspections by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency contained traces of radioactive material, diplomats said, which could indicate that Iran has begun work on nuclear weapons, depending on where it was found. Diplomats said they were unaware of the exact nature of what was found.
Last year, Iran blocked IAEA inspectors for seven months to review the sites involved, prompting a confrontation. Tehran has long denied trying to make an atomic bomb and said all its nuclear work has peaceful purposes such as power generation and health care. There was no immediate comment from Iran on the findings.
Iran’s nuclear activity
In Washington, White House and State Department officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In recent months, Iran has expanded its nuclear activities, violating many of the limits of the 2015 nuclear deal it sealed with the US, European powers, Russia and China. These moves began more than a year after the Trump administration abandoned the deal in May 2018 and then imposed extensive sanctions on Iran, which had been lifted under the deal.
He has also threatened to restrict IAEA inspectors ’access to the sites from this month. These steps have caused growing concern in Washington about Iran’s nuclear intentions.
U.S. and Israeli officials have said the retention of Iran’s nuclear material, equipment and information, which is in a nuclear archive raided by Israel in 2018, shows that the country plans to renew its nuclear weapons again.
The IAEA listed in a June report the questions it asked Iran to clarify a number of works that could be used for nuclear weapons. One suspicion was the Iranian drilling of a uranium metal disk that could be used to create material for a neutron initiator, experts say, a key component of a nuclear weapon. A second suspicion was that nuclear material had been introduced at a location where Iran could have tested high explosives that could be used to detonate a nuclear weapon.
The agency is also asking Iran about another undeclared site where illicit uranium conversion and processing may have taken place, he said.
All of the suspicious activities took place in the early 2000s or earlier, according to the agency. Two of the sites were razed years ago. Another site was rehabilitated by Iran in 2019, the IAEA reported. The IAEA said it does not rule out that the materials from this nuclear work have been used more recently.
“The discovery of radioactive material at these sites would indicate that Iran does have undeclared nuclear material, despite its denials,” said David Albright, a former weapons inspector and president of the Institute for Science and Technology. Washington International Security. “It would indicate that Iran had a nuclear weapons program in the past, probably leading the IAEA to ask for access to more places and more explanations from Iran.”
The IAEA said in 2015 that it believed Iran had a structured nuclear weapons program until 2003 and that it would continue some activities after that. Washington and the European powers have come to similar conclusions.
According to diplomats, the IAEA has not yet reported the latest findings to member states. He is currently asking Iran to provide an explanation of the material, said one of them, a standard practice. The agency declined to comment on the new findings.
The IAEA has previously said it found several undeclared uranium particles, including enriched uranium, in a secret location separate from Tehran in 2019, which is believed to be a nuclear equipment warehouse. It was this finding that led the agency to seek access to other places in Iran.
The US, European powers and others have urged Iran to cooperate fully with the expansion of the agency’s investigation into Iran’s past nuclear activities.
Tensions have risen over the past 18 months due to IAEA research into undeclared material. The basic function of the IAEA is to safeguard nuclear material used for civilian purposes and to ensure that it is not diverted to nuclear weapons. Iran is supposed to declare all the country’s nuclear material under its international obligations.
Last year, IAEA board member states voted to censure Iran for not cooperating. Iran rejected the measure as unfair pressure and was backed by Russia and China.
Iran says the IAEA’s investigation is based on fabricated Israeli information and has prompted the agency to complete its work quickly. Iran’s threat to restrict access by IAEA inspectors to the sites later this month if the U.S. does not lift sanctions on Tehran could limit the agency’s ability to deepen the investigation.
After the IAEA requested access to the two sites in January 2020, Iran repeatedly refused, until IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi traveled to Tehran in August and reached an agreement. Inspectors took samples at both sites and shortly thereafter conducted an additional inspection at another location.
While samples were being tested in laboratories, Mr Grossi stepped up pressure on Iran to adequately explain the presence of uranium particles found at the Tehran site in 2019.
Grossi has promised to continue the IAEA investigation until Iran explains all the undeclared material. In November, he described Iran’s explanations for uranium particles found at a Tehran site as “technically unbelievable” and said Iran must account for the material “completely and quickly.” Iran has said it is cooperating with the agency.
Write to Laurence Norman to [email protected]
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