The allegations follow new evidence exposing duplicity by the Islamic Republic to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
By Erin Viner
“The exposure of Iran’s systematic program to deceive the IAEA – which was based around documents that Iran stole from the IAEA – is a wake-up call to the world. This is additional proof of Iranian efforts to advance toward achieving nuclear weapons,” stressed the Israeli leader.
According to a communiqué obtained by TV7 from the the Prime Minister’s Foreign Media Advisor, Bennett was responding to an exclusive by the Wall Street Journal entitled: Iran Used Secret U.N. Records to Evade Nuclear Probes.
“Internal IAEA documents, obtained by Iranian intelligence, were sent to top officials amid an investigation into a suspected past nuclear-weapons program,” read the subheading of the article.
“Iran secured access to secret United Nations atomic agency reports almost two decades ago and circulated the documents among top officials who prepared cover stories and falsified a record to conceal suspected past work on nuclear weapons, according to Middle East intelligence officials and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal,” said the report, adding that, “The International Atomic Energy Agency documents and accompanying Persian-language Iranian records reveal some of the tactics Tehran used with the agency, which is tasked with monitoring compliance with nuclear non-proliferation treaties and the later 2015 nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
“While Iran says it isn’t trying to build nuclear weapons, a look at its key facilities suggests it could develop the technology to make them,” reported the WSJ, which went on to break down “Tehran’s capabilities as it hits new milestones in uranium enrichment and limits access to inspectors.”
Israel has long opposed the JCPOA as too weak to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. After former United States Republican President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, the Ayatollah regime responded by openly violating critical nuclear limits. The current administration of Democratic President Joe Biden has been undertaking efforts to bring both sides back into compliance with the deal.
Jerusalem has also protested that the JCPOA failed to impede Iran’s missile program or terrorist activities by the Islamic Republic’s proxies in the region.
Prime Minister Bennett charged that, “The systematic policy of fraud, theft and concealing evidence by Iran against the IAEA should now become a definitive fact in the eyes of the international community.”
Stating that the “IAEA is a professional body that serves as the international ‘gate keeper’ against the spread of nuclear weapons,” the Israeli Premier added that he welcomes “the persistence of IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Gross in not closing the open files until today – for which there was ample justification.”
Underscoring that, “Apart from the deception, the documents attest to prohibited and ongoing nuclear activity, which reveals new issues that demand investigation,” Bennett stressed that, “In light of the foregoing, the time has come for the IAEA Board of Governors to issue a clear message to Iran: Enough!”