Israeli atomic chief: Iran closer to developing nuclear weapons than it claims

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During a talk at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) annual conference on Tuesday, Israeli Atomic Energy Chief Moshe Edri warned that Iran "continues to deceive the Agency and the international community" regarding the advancement of its nuclear program.

“Iran continues to be the main source of regional instability, and poses a threat to peace and security worldwide,” Edri said. “This reality requires the full attention of the international community, now more than ever before. There is no doubt that Iran conducted a military nuclear program aimed to produce several nuclear weapon devices.”

Edri further stated that the Iranian regime has by no means stopped its plans to develop nuclear weapons.

“Iran continues to advance this program by gaining relevant technology and knowledge, along with fissile material in alarming amounts,” he stated. “Iran has been conducting covert nuclear activities in undeclared sites for many years…Despite repeated resolutions by the Board of Governors, Iran has continuously failed to provide technically credible explanations regarding these activities, and continues to deceive the Agency and the international community.”

After warning of Iran’s deception, Edri stressed that the world must not allow Iran to move forward with its nuclear program, especially given the regime's current actions and its support for terrorism around the world.

“Iran continues to develop, test and deploy long-range ballistic missiles, and supports terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East, including the Houthi terrorist group that is a significant security threat to the freedom of navigation, and to the global trade routes,” he said. “A nuclear-armed Iran, equipped with delivery systems, is not an option that Israel, or the world, can, or should tolerate.”

Iran has long denied its desire to develop nuclear weapons.

In the past, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has defended the nuclear program as being a peaceful endeavor, saying, “We had a fatwa, declaring nuclear weapons to be religiously forbidden under Islamic law.”

During his first news conference on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated his nation’s official stance, asserting that the nuclear program is intended for scientific research and the production of nuclear energy, not for nuclear weapons.

“I think, we said many times, we don’t want to do this at all. We want to solve our technical and scientific needs, we are not looking for nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian claimed.

He went on to indicate that Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 60% purity – close to the 90% required to make nuclear weapons – is a reaction to America’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

“We adhered to the framework written in the [nuclear deal],” Pezeshkian said. “We are still looking to maintain those frameworks. They tore them, they forced us to do something.”

In a statement earlier this month, IAEA Dir.-Gen. Rafael Mariano Grossi noted that “it has been more than three and a half years since Iran stopped implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPO,” and listed several ways in which Iran has failed to fulfill its commitments.

“These outstanding safeguards issues stem from Iran’s obligations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and need to be resolved for the Agency to be able to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful,” Grossi said.

“After the elections in Iran, I corresponded with President Pezeshkian, indicating my disposition to meet him in Tehran to re-launch the dialogue and cooperation between the Agency and Iran,” Grossi told the IAEA board of governors. “He agreed to meet with me at an appropriate juncture.”

While Israel is believed to possess nuclear weapons, it claims its nuclear reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center is for peaceful purposes, and neither confirms nor denies the existence of an Israeli nuclear weapons program.