Why uranium at undeclared site, UN watchdog asks Tehran

Vienna, November 21

Advertisement

The UN nuclear watchdog today urged Iran to explain the presence of uranium particles at an undeclared site, as a landmark deal aimed at curbing Tehran’s atomic activities threatens to collapse.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report made public last week that its inspectors had “detected natural uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at a location in Iran not declared to the agency.”

The agency’s acting head, Cornel Feruta, said the IAEA and Iranian officials would meet in Tehran next week to discuss the matter, adding that the UN body had not received any additional information.

“The matter remains unresolved… It is essential that Iran works with the agency to resolve this matter promptly,” he told IAEA member states at a meeting of the agency’s board of governors.

A diplomatic source said the IAEA would send a high-ranking technical delegation to Iran next week. The particles are understood to be the product of uranium which has been mined and undergone initial processing, but not enriched.

While the IAEA has not named the site in question, diplomatic sources have previously said the agency asked Iran about a site in the Turquzabad district of Tehran where Israel has alleged secret atomic activity in the past.

The 2015 deal between Iran and world powers has been faltering since last year when the USpulled out. — AFP