Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has welcomed today’s announcements regarding the situation in Iran and stressed the need for a resumption of the IAEA’s indispensable safeguards verification work in the country following a 12-day military conflict that severely damaged several of its nuclear sites.
In a letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Dr Abbas Araghchi, Director General Grossi also proposed that they meet soon.
“Resuming cooperation with the IAEA is key to a successful diplomatic agreement to finally resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities. I’ve written to Foreign Minister Araghchi stressing the importance of us working together and proposing to meet soon,” he said.
IAEA inspectors have remained in Iran throughout the conflict and are ready to start working as soon as possible, going back to the country’s nuclear sites and verifying the inventories of nuclear material – including more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60% - which they last verified a few days before the Israeli air strikes began on 13 June.
Even though the conflict interrupted safeguards inspections in the country, the IAEA has been closely monitoring the impact of the military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Arak, Esfahan, Fordow and Natanz as well as the possible consequences for human health and the environment, based on relevant information received from Iran’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority.
“As I have repeatedly stated – before and during the conflict – nuclear facilities should never be attacked due to the very real risk of a serious radiological accident,” Director General Grossi said.
“During these attacks, we have seen extensive damage at several nuclear sites in Iran, including its uranium conversion and enrichment facilities. Our assessment is that there has been some localized radioactive as well as chemical release inside the affected facilities that contained nuclear material – mainly uranium enriched to varying degrees – but there has been no report of increased off-site radiation levels,” he said.
Still, the IAEA is aware of concerns in the region regarding any radiological consequences as a result of the strikes on nuclear facilities.
“Based on the data available to us, the IAEA can provide assurances that there has been no radiological impact to the population and the environment in neighbouring countries. Crucially in terms of nuclear safety, Iran’s research and power reactors were not targeted,” Director General Grossi said.
In addition to the detailed assessment that Director General Grossi provided to the IAEA Board of Governors on Monday, the IAEA has identified additional impact points at nuclear sites at Fordow and Natanz as a result of strikes carried out before today’s announcements on the situation in Iran.
Regarding the additional strikes to Fordow that were reported early on Monday – after the U.S. bombing of the facility early on Sunday – the IAEA assesses that access roads close to the underground facility and one of its entrances were hit.
At Natanz, the IAEA has identified two impact holes from the U.S. strikes above the underground halls that had been used for enrichment as well as for storage. Based on its knowledge of what these halls contained, the IAEA assesses that this strike may have caused localized contamination and chemical hazards.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency, https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-on-developments-in-iran-6
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