UN: Iran Briefly Closed Nuclear Facilities to IAEA Inspectors
According to a report, Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi was asked whether he was concerned about the possibility of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility in retaliation for the attack
Iran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over “security considerations” in the wake of its massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog said Monday.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi was asked whether he was concerned about the possibility of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility in retaliation for the attack.
“We are always concerned about this possibility. What I can tell you is that our inspectors in Iran were informed by the Iranian government that yesterday (Sunday), all the nuclear facilities that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations,” he said.
The facilities were to reopen on Monday, Grossi said, but inspectors would not return until the following day.
“I decided to not let the inspectors return until we see that the situation is completely calm,” he added, while calling for “extreme restraint”.
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel overnight from Saturday into Sunday in retaliation for an air strike on a consular building in Damascus that killed seven of its Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.
Israel and its allies shot down the vast majority of the weapons, and the attack caused only minor damage, but concerns about a potential Israeli reprisal have nevertheless stoked fears of all-out regional war.
Israel has carried out operations against nuclear sites in the region before.
In 1981, it bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, despite opposition from Washington. And in 2018, it admitted to having launched a top-secret air raid against a reactor in Syria 11 years prior.
Israel is also accused by Tehran of having assassinated two Iranian nuclear physicists in 2010, and of having kidnapped another the previous year.
Also in 2010, a sophisticated cyberattack using the Stuxnet virus, attributed by Tehran to Israel and the United States, led to a series of breakdowns in Iranian centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.
Israel accuses Iran of wanting to acquire an atomic bomb, something Tehran denies.
Briefing:
Latest Developments
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on April 15 that Iran briefly closed its nuclear facilities to inspectors the day before amid security concerns about possible Israeli retaliation over the regime’s weekend attack. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported that Tehran permitted inspectors to re-enter on April 15, but Grossi directed his team to resume work on April 16 out of an abundance of caution.
Expert Analysis
“Iran may learn lessons for a future effort to close its nuclear facilities to inspectors on a pretext of security concerns, all while it enriches uranium to weapons-grade or diverts the material to a secret site. Indeed, the nightmare scenarios experts have worried about for years seem more possible given Tehran’s current penchant for risk-taking.” — Andrea Stricker, FDD Research Fellow and Deputy Director of FDD’s Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program
“Going forward, we need to make sure we are learning about any halt to UN inspections in real-time to prevent Iran from creating false pretexts to deny access.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor
IAEA Concerns
In New York to brief the UN Security Council, Director General Grossi told reporters that Iran’s temporary closure of nuclear facilities had not “had an impact on our inspection activity, but we always call for extreme restraint.” Grossi acknowledged the prospect that inspectors could be bystanders in an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “We are always concerned about that possibility,” he said. It is unlikely, however, that Israel would knowingly strike Tehran’s nuclear sites while inspectors are present.
Possible Rehearsal for Breakout
The closure of Iran’s facilities raises concern that it could be rehearsing a possible breakout from the regime’s nuclear nonproliferation obligations. Tehran could use a security pretext to delay or prevent inspector access while it enriches uranium to weapons-grade or diverts material to a secret site.
Iran’s shortening “breakout time” — the amount of time the regime needs to enrich enough weapons-grade uranium (WGU) for a first atomic bomb — leaves very little time for America, Israel, and European partners to act and prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Iran’s breakout time has dropped to just seven days to produce enough WGU for a first weapon and five months to produce material for an additional 12 weapons, with additional months needed to fabricate an atomic device.
