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UN watchdog says Iran had secret nuclear activities with undeclared materials; Israel issues warning
The International Atomic Energy Agency stated that Iran had carried out secret nuclear activities with materials not declared to them at three locations.
Iran has increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels, a confidential report by a UN nuclear watchdog said on Saturday, calling on Tehran to cooperate and comply with the agency's probe, reported Reuters.
The International Atomic Energy Agency stated that Iran had carried out secret nuclear activities with materials not declared to them at three locations which are under investigation.
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The agency concluded that “these three locations, and other possible related locations, were part of an undeclared structured nuclear programme carried out by Iran until the early 2000s and that some activities used undeclared nuclear material.”
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The report by the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog says that as of May 17, Iran has amassed 408.6 kilogrammes of uranium enriched up to 60 per cent, marking an increase of 133.8 kilogrammes since the IAEA's last report in February.
That material is only one step away from a weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.
The IAEA chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has stressed that “Iran is the only non-nuclear weapon state enriching to this level”. He also reiterated his call for Tehran to cooperate fully and effectively with the IAEA.
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The report comes at a sensitive time as Tehran and Washington have been holding several rounds of talks over a possible nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump is trying to reach.
Iran responded to the report and said it was “politically motivated and repeats baseless accusations.” Iran said it will "implement appropriate measures" in response to any effort to take action against Tehran at the IAEA.
Israel calls for Iran's nuclear programme to stop
Israel on Saturday reacted to the report from the International Atomic Energy Agency which showed that Iran's nuclear programme was not peaceful and that Tehran remained determined to complete its nuclear weapons programme.
"The international community must act now to stop Iran," Prime Minister Benjamin 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".
US President Donald Trump had previously told Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran to give the US administration more time to push for a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
“They don't want to be blown up. They would rather make a deal,” Trump said of Iran.
