Israel silent on IAEA finding that Iran worked on nukes until at least 2003; Iranian diplomat says its program always had peaceful goals
Iran said Wednesday it now considers a UN probe into allegations of past nuclear weapons research closed after the international body’s atomic watchdog published a long-awaited report on the issue.
“It can be said that all measures regarding previous issues have been completely concluded and the PMD issue has been closed,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state television.
He was referring to the “possible military dimensions” of Iran‘s nuclear program, which has been long investigated by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran had said Sunday that there would be no final implementation of a July 14 nuclear deal with world powers unless the probe into allegations of past weapons research remained open.
The Prime Minister’s Office told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that it had no immediate comment on the IAEA assessment.
On Channel 2 television, Ehud Yaari, one of Israel’s premier Middle East analysts, said the IAEA’s conclusions on Iran’s nuclear program pave the way for the nuclear deal to go ahead.
Iran has always denied seeking to develop atomic weapons capability, insisting its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy production and medical purposes only.
The actual report notes that Iran did research relevant to the development of atomic weapons until 2003 and to a much lesser degree until as late as 2009. No research related to nuclear weapons could be confirmed later than 2009.
Araqchi said that all Iranian studies on dual-use technologies before 2003 were conducted for peaceful ends.
Regarding a the existence of experiment chamber in Parchin, based on satellite photos, Araqchi said Iran provided the IAEA with “more reliable photos negating its claims.”
According to the IRNA report, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano visited Parchin in person and “saw no chamber there.”
Iran has on several occasions announced that nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s defense doctrine, he said.
As reported by The Times of Israel