IAEA seeks assessment of Iran nuclear sites
VIENNA: The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday called for its inspectors to be able to return to Iran's nuclear sites in a bid to "account for" its highly enriched uranium stockpiles. He called for a cessation of hostilities. The request follows attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities.
"Iran, Israel and the Middle East need peace," Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the organisation's board of governors in Vienna. "For that, we must take a number of steps," he said. "First of all, we must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors — the guardians on our behalf of the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) — to go back to Iran's nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400 kilogrammes enriched to 60 per cent."
Grossi said Tehran had sent him a letter on June 13 announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials". "There needs to be a cessation of hostilities for the necessary safety and security conditions to prevail so that Iran can let IAEA teams into the sites to assess the situation," he said.
Over the weekend, the United States struck three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel's bombardments of Iran's nuclear programme. "Craters are now visible at the Fordo site, Iran's main facility for enriching uranium at 60 per cent, indicating the use of ground-penetrating munitions," he said. He added that "very significant damage" is expected to have occurred for the US bombing "given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges". "At this time, no-one including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordo," he said.
The US strikes came after Israel began launching large-scale attacks on Iran on June 13 targeting its missile and nuclear facilities, military leaders and security services, and residential sites. Iran's uranium enrichment has for decades caused tension, with Western powers voicing fears the drive is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a claim denied by Tehran.
Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads. European powers have urged Tehran to revive diplomatic efforts with the United States to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear programme. Iran has said it can only consider diplomacy once Israel halts its bombardment of the Islamic republic. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
8 hours ago
- Observer
Blasts heard over Doha after Qatar suspends air traffic
Doha: Explosions could be heard over Doha on Monday, shortly after Qatar, which hosts the biggest US base in the Middle East, suspended air traffic as Iran threatened retaliation for US strikes on its nuclear sites. AFP journalists heard several rounds of blasts in central Doha and across the Qatari capital, with projectiles stopped by interceptors illuminating the night sky. Gas-rich Qatar, which lies 190 kilometres (120 miles) south of Iran across the Gulf, is home to the United States' largest military base in the region, Al Udeid, which hosts the regional headquarters of the Pentagon's Central Command. "The competent authorities announce the temporary suspension of air traffic in the country's airspace, as part of a set of precautionary measures taken based on developments in the region," the foreign ministry said. It added authorities were monitoring the situation "in coordination with regional and international partners". Earlier, the US embassy in Qatar advised Americans there not to go out, with other Western embassies echoing the warning. "Out of an abundance of caution we recommend American citizens shelter in place until further notice," the US embassy said on its website. Britain and Canada later cited the US security alert in their own recommendations to nationals. Iran's armed forces threatened on Monday to inflict "serious, unpredictable consequences" on the US after it joined its ally Israel's campaign against the Islamic republic, carrying out heavy strikes on three nuclear sites. Last week, dozens of US military aircraft were no longer on the tarmac at al-Udeid, according to satellite images published by Planet Labs PBC and analysed by AFP. Nearly 40 military aircraft -- including transport planes like the Hercules C-130 and reconnaissance aircraft -- were parked on the tarmac at the base, the regional headquarters of the Pentagon's Central Command, on June 5, but in an image taken on June 19, only three aircraft were visible. In Bahrain, a close neighbour of Qatar that hosts the US Fifth Fleet, the American embassy "temporarily shifted a portion of its employees to local telework", it said on X. Bahraini authorities had already told most government employees to work from home until further notice, citing "regional circumstances". Following the US warning in Doha, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said such statements by foreign embassies "do not necessarily reflect the existence of specific or credible threats". "We would like to reassure the public that the security situation in the state remains stable," he wrote on X. "Qatar continues to exert intensive diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region." On Sunday, the US State Department advised Americans worldwide to "exercise increased caution" because of the war between Israel and Iran. After Israel's first strikes on Iran on June 13, the US embassy in Qatar had told its staff and other Americans to exercise caution and "limit non-essential travel to Al Udeid Air Base".
Observer
8 hours ago
- Observer
IAEA seeks assessment of Iran nuclear sites
VIENNA: The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday called for its inspectors to be able to return to Iran's nuclear sites in a bid to "account for" its highly enriched uranium stockpiles. He called for a cessation of hostilities. The request follows attacks by Israel and the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities. "Iran, Israel and the Middle East need peace," Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the organisation's board of governors in Vienna. "For that, we must take a number of steps," he said. "First of all, we must return to the negotiating table and for that allow IAEA inspectors — the guardians on our behalf of the NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) — to go back to Iran's nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium, including, most importantly, the 400 kilogrammes enriched to 60 per cent." Grossi said Tehran had sent him a letter on June 13 announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials". "There needs to be a cessation of hostilities for the necessary safety and security conditions to prevail so that Iran can let IAEA teams into the sites to assess the situation," he said. Over the weekend, the United States struck three Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel's bombardments of Iran's nuclear programme. "Craters are now visible at the Fordo site, Iran's main facility for enriching uranium at 60 per cent, indicating the use of ground-penetrating munitions," he said. He added that "very significant damage" is expected to have occurred for the US bombing "given the explosive payload utilised and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges". "At this time, no-one including the IAEA, is in a position to have fully assessed the underground damage at Fordo," he said. The US strikes came after Israel began launching large-scale attacks on Iran on June 13 targeting its missile and nuclear facilities, military leaders and security services, and residential sites. Iran's uranium enrichment has for decades caused tension, with Western powers voicing fears the drive is aimed at making an atomic bomb, a claim denied by Tehran. Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying it exists, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated it has 90 nuclear warheads. European powers have urged Tehran to revive diplomatic efforts with the United States to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear programme. Iran has said it can only consider diplomacy once Israel halts its bombardment of the Islamic republic. — AFP
Observer
8 hours ago
- Observer
Iran issues stark warning to Trump 'the gambler': We will end this war
ISTANBUL/WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM: Iran said on Monday that the U.S. attack on its nuclear sites expanded the range of legitimate targets for its armed forces and called U.S. President Donald Trump a "gambler" for joining Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic. Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya central military headquarters, said the U.S. should expect heavy consequences for its actions. "Mr Trump, the gambler, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to end it," Zolfaqari said in English at the end of a recorded video statement. Iran and Israel traded air and missile strikes as the world braced for Tehran's response to the U.S. attack on its nuclear sites over the weekend, which Trump suggested could lead to the overthrow of the Iranian government. Commercial satellite imagery indicated Saturday's attack on Iran's Fordow nuclear plant far underground had severely damaged or destroyed the site and the uranium-enriching centrifuges it housed, but its status remained unconfirmed, experts said. In his latest social media comments on the U.S. strikes, Trump said: "Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran." "The biggest damage took place far below ground level. Bullseye!!!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. Trump earlier called on Iran to forgo any retaliation and said the government "must now make peace" or future attacks would be "far greater and a lot easier", fuelling global concern about further escalation of conflict in the Middle East. The U.S. launched 75 precision-guided munitions including bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear sites, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, told reporters. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said no increases in off-site radiation levels had been reported after the U.S. strikes. Rafael Grossi, the agency's director general, told CNN that it was not yet possible to assess the damage done underground. A senior Iranian source told Reuters that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. Reuters could not immediately corroborate the claim. Tehran, which denies its nuclear programme is for anything other than peaceful purposes, launched a volley of missiles towards Israel in the aftermath of the U.S. attack, wounding scores of people and destroying buildings in Tel Aviv. But it has not acted on its main options for retaliation, to attack U.S. bases or choke off the 20% of global oil shipments that pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Attempting to strangle the strait could send global oil prices skyrocketing, derail the world economy and invite conflict with the U.S. Navy's massive Fifth Fleet based in nearby Bahrain. Oil prices jumped on Monday to their highest since January. Brent crude futures were up $1.11 or 1.44% to $78.12 a barrel as of 0653 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude advanced $1.08 or 1.45% to $74.87.
