AEOI: ‘Not advisable’ to expose info on damaged sites due to technical concerns
The spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Saturday that from a security standpoint, it is “not advisable” to provide the “enemy” with information on the nuclear sites damaged in the attacks by the United States and Israel in June.
Behrouz Kamalvandi said that the UN nuclear agency’s insistence on the full implementation of the Safeguards Agreement and its request for access and reporting on materials and the damaged sites is “unreasonable” under the current circumstances.
“I believe that it is not advisable, from a security standpoint, to give the enemy information now about how much nuclear material and how many sites have been damaged. It is in our best interest to protect the country's technical information while fulfilling our commitments,” Kamalvandi underlined.
Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi on Saturday once again called for access to Iran’s nuclear facilities which were targeted by Israel and the US in June.
Referring to the cancellation of an agreement signed between Iran and the IAEA in Cairo in September to resume IAEA’s inspections, he said Iran signed the deal as a “goodwill gesture” to create conditions for interaction with the agency. However, he said the other sides “took advantage of it.”
In November, Iran canceled the Cairo agreement following the passage of an anti-Iran resolution at the agency’s Board of Governors.
The AEOI’s spokesperson underlined that the continuation of cooperation with the IAEA depends on further consultations. He said that giving access to the IAEA’s inspectors requires approval of the country’s the Supreme National Security Council.
However, he proposed a solution for giving information to the agency about the nuclear material in the damaged sites.
“We should see whether it is possible to measure material through other means and inform the agency, without giving access to the inspectors.”
Grossi recently said that the agency’s inspectors have returned to Iran but still do not have access to Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan facilities, which were bombed by the US during an unprovoked aggression by Israel.
At the same time, three European powers — Britain, France, and Germany —along with the US have called on Iran to grant inspectors access to the bombed sites.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that that the targeted sites were “totally obliterated.” Iran has also acknowledged severe damage to the sites.