TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that enriched nuclear material remained “under the rubble” of facilities damaged during the recent war with Israel.
Araghchi said the council — Iran’s top security body — was in charge of the country’s nuclear affairs.
Iran halted its cooperation with the agency following the 12-day war with Israel in June, following a law passed by the Iranian parliament.
Araghchi on Thursday further elaborated that the agreement distinguishes between nuclear facilities that were attacked during the war and others which were unharmed, such as the Bushehr reactor in the south.
Iran, which avowedly seeks Israel’s destruction, denies trying to attain nuclear weapons, but it has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.
Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, stated on Thursday that enriched nuclear material was still “under the rubble” of buildings that had been damaged in the country’s recent conflict with Israel.
Araghchi claimed in a televised interview that “all of our material is… under the rubble of the bombed facilities.” He also mentioned that the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization was evaluating the material’s accessibility and condition in order to report back to the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
According to Araghchi, Iran’s nuclear affairs are under the jurisdiction of the council, which is the country’s highest security body.
His comments followed his agreement with Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, on Tuesday in Cairo on a new framework of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Araghchi emphasized in his interview on Thursday that the new cooperation framework agreement only allows access to UN nuclear inspectors with Iran’s security body’s approval.
After the 12-day war with Israel in June, Iran stopped working with the agency after the Iranian parliament passed a law.
The IAEA has been accused by Iran of not sufficiently denouncing Israel’s strikes.
Araghchi stated that the framework was “fully consistent” with the law’s provisions during his joint press conference from Egypt on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Araghchi went on to clarify that the agreement makes a distinction between nuclear facilities that were attacked during the war and those that were not, like the Bushehr reactor in the south.
He stated that the situation for the targeted facilities was more “complicated” and that access to undamaged facilities would be “considered case by case by the Supreme National Security Council.”. “”.
Referring to the affected locations, he stated, “At this time, no action is taken until Iran carries out the necessary measures related to environmental and safety concerns.”.
Grossi acknowledged in a late June interview with CBS that “we don’t know where this (highly enriched) material could be.”. “”.
Despite this, US President Donald Trump maintained that Iran’s nuclear program had been delayed by “decades.”. “”.
Prior to the attacks, Iran’s extremely enriched uranium stockpile was estimated to be 408 point 6 kilograms (900 pounds).
Although Iran has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful use, expanded its ballistic missile capabilities, and blocked international inspectors from inspecting its nuclear facilities, it still avowedly wants to destroy Israel and denies attempting to obtain nuclear weapons. Jerusalem claims that just before Israel began its military campaign against the program in June, the Islamic Republic began to move toward weaponization.
Prior to Israel’s military assault on June 13, Iran boosted its uranium enrichment stockpile to levels close to weapons-grade, according to a confidential report released by the IAEA earlier this month.
In August, following weeks of warnings, Britain, France, and Germany took action to reinstate UN sanctions, pointing to Iran’s persistent failure to fulfill its obligations under a largely dormant 2015 nuclear deal.
From our perspective, this agreement will no longer be enforceable if the Security Council decides to activate the snapback mechanism in spite of all the disagreements, Araghchi stated. “”.
