Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated Thursday that enriched nuclear material was “under the rubble” of destroyed facilities during the current war with Israel.
“All of our material is… under the rubble of the targeted sites,” Araghchi said in a TV interview, noting that Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization was evaluating the status and accessibility of the stockpile.
The comments followed Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reaching a new cooperation agreement on Tuesday. Iran suspended cooperation with the agency after the 12-day war with Israel in June, during which Israeli and US attacks targeted Iranian nuclear sites.
Iran says enriched nuclear material of facilities hit during Israel war
Iran has criticized the IAEA for not strongly enough condemning the attacks.
In the course of the interview, Araghchi maintained that the new framework allows access by UN nuclear inspectors only after ratification by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the country’s highest security authority.
According to him, the agreement makes a distinction between the nuclear facilities attacked during war and others which remained untouched, like the Bushehr reactor in the south.
Access to intact facilities will be “considered on a case by case basis by the Supreme National Security Council,” Araghchi stated, and added that the case of the targeted facilities was more “complicated.”
“No measure is implemented until Iran takes the required steps regarding environmental and safety issues,” he said, pointing to the target sites.
“No inspections are planned at present,” he added.
The IAEA head Rafael Grossi announced on Wednesday that the deal covers “all facilities and installations in Iran” and “guarantees a clear understanding of the procedures for inspections”.
Read more: UN nuclear watchdog says new deal with Iran covers ‘all facilities’
Grossi had reported on late June that the whereabouts of Iran’s enriched material were unknown since the war against Israel.
The agency said in a recent report that Iran held an estimated 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent as of June 13, when the conflict began.
Uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity is close to the roughly 90 percent level needed for atomic weapons.
Western nations have accused Iran of pursuing an atomic bomb — a claim Tehran has long refuted, insisting that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Last August, Britain, France and Germany set out to reinstate UN sanctions, removed a decade ago under a stale 2015 nuclear accord, in the face of Iran’s persistent failure to uphold its side of the bargain.
They provided Iran with a month to negotiate before sanctions return to the table.
Iran has called the action “illegal”, and Araghchi once again asserted that if sanctions come back, the recent deal with IAEA will “no longer be valid”.
