The Director General of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – Rafael Grossi – on Monday called for its inspectors to be able to return to Iran’s nuclear sites a day after the United States bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran, reported AFP.
Rafael Grossi’s call arrived in a bid to ‘account for’ Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpiles. He also called for a cessation of hostilities.
Speaking at an emergency meeting of the organisation’s board of governors in Vienna, Grossi said, as quoted by AFP, “Iran, Israel and the Middle East need peace. For that, we must take a number of steps.”
“First of all, we must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors – the guardians on our behalf of the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) – to go back to Iran’s nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400 kilogrammes enriched to 60 percent,” he added.
Stating that Tehran sent him a letter on 13 June, announcing the implementation of “special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials”, Grossi said, “There needs to be a cessation of hostilities for the necessary safety and security conditions to prevail so that Iran can let IAEA teams into the sites to assess the situation.”
“Craters are now visible at the Fordo site, Iran’s main facility for enriching uranium at 60 percent, indicating the use of ground-penetrating munitions,” he said.
“Very significant damage”
Grossi said that the “given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges”, “very significant damage” is expected to have occurred.
“At this time, no-one including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordo,” he said.
US bombs Iran’s nuclear facilities:
Earlier on Saturday night, the United States struck three Iranian nuclear sites as they joined Israel’s bombardments of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israel on 13 June targeted Iran’s missile and nuclear facilities, military leaders and security services, and residential sites.
It is to be known that Iran’s uranium enrichment has for decades caused tension. The reason is that the Western powers voiced fears that the drive is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a claim denied by Tehran.
However, Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal. It has neither officially confirmed nor denied that it exists. But the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads.
Meanwhile, the European powers have urged Tehran to revive diplomatic efforts with the United States to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear programme.
Iran has said it can only consider diplomacy once Israel halts its bombardment of the Islamic republic.