Tehran says an IAEA inspector who was barred from entering a nuclear facility in central Iran had tested positive for explosive nitrates.
Iran will not allow security of nuclear facilities to be compromised: IAEA envoy
Thu Nov 7, 2019 04:44PM
Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says he has communicated Tehran’s concerns about security of the country’s nuclear facilities to the agency, especially with regard to an IAEA inspector who was prevented from entering an Iranian nuclear site for carrying “suspicious” materials.
Kazem Gharib-Abadi said on Thursday following an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Governors of the IAEA that he had offered a lengthy report on this issue to IAEA’s board, detailing everything that happened from entry of the aforesaid inspector to Iran till the time she left the country.
“I emphasized that Iran has security concerns in this regard and does not intend to violate immunity of IAEA’s inspectors, because we have not violated their rights and are aware of the stipulations of international law and our commitments.”
Iran’s IAEA envoy noted that detectors at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility had issued alarms with regards to this inspector, showing that she was carrying dangerous materials, saying, “Various measures were taken later and detectors were used at various locations, giving the same result, even when they were applied to her handbag.”
Noting that an investigation is underway on this issue in cooperation with the agency, Gharib-Abadi said, “We told members of the IAEA that in view of the past record of acts of sabotage against our nuclear facilities, we will under no circumstances compromise our national security and security of our nuclear facilities, and we insist that the agency must offer us full cooperation to carry this investigation until its final stage.”
He emphasized that the agency has announced in writing that it is ready to cooperate with Iran in the investigation of the incident regarding its inspector and this issue has been welcomed by the Iranian side.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Wednesday announced that an inspector of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who was prevented from entering a nuclear site of the Islamic Republic, has left the country.
The AEOI added that the female monitor left her mission unfinished and flew out of Iran after security staff at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility didn’t let her in.
“As it is protocol, all of the IAEA inspectors’ belongings are closely inspected and scanned before they enter any of the country’s nuclear facilities,” read the AEOI statement.
“Upon this lady inspector’s entry, the security control machines sounded the alarm and denied her entry,” it said, adding that Iran had reported the issue to the IAEA.
Iran also told the international agency in the report that the inspector’s previous admissions at various sites were all scrapped and as a result, she decided to abort her mission and go back to the Austrian capital of Vienna.
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