Scoop JSS: The Israeli Answer to the IAEA repport on Iran
The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published two periodic reports yesterday on investigations that the agency is conducting in Iran and Syria. The report on Iran indicates that the Iranians are continuing to enrich uranium, in violation of a Security Council resolution, while refusing to cooperate with the IAEA. The agency is trying to determine whether Iran's nuclear program is intended for military purposes, as suspected.
The facts detailed in the report are similar to those in previous reports. However, the ramifications, in the face of Iran's continuation of its nuclear program – particularly the stockpiling of enriched uranium, while ignoring the demands of the international community – are more serious. Israel reiterates its call to the international community and its institutions to increase the pressure on Iran to abandon its program, which threatens to achieve nuclear weapon capability.
Regarding the Syrian facility that was apparently built in secret, Israel expressed concern about the report's findings, which include the presence of uranium at the site, indicating that the facility was nuclear. Israel expects the IAEA and its head to continue its impartial investigations, including visits to additional sites that Syria until now has not allowed to be inspected.
These two states operate clandestinely in the nuclear realm in a way that endangers regional and world peace while flagrantly violating their international commitments.