Iran Criticizes IAEA’s Poor Reaction to Fukushima Crisis

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoon Abbasi blasted the UN nuclear watchdog’s poor response to the crisis which happened in Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March.
Abbasi censured the UN nuclear watchdog for paying undue attention to the country’s nuclear program, and urged the agency to focus more on the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is raising issues about Iran’s nuclear dossier to divert the world’s attention from the incident at the Fukushima nuclear site, he said on Friday.

With regard to the humanitarian and environmental disaster at the Fukushima plant, the IAEA should conduct an investigation on the possibility of recklessness in the site’s safety precautions and avoid paying unreasonable attention to Iran’s nuclear program, Abbasi said following an inspection of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran.

He called on IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano to investigate the issue and supervise the nuclear activities of all countries.

On March 11, a nine-magnitude earthquake, off the northeast coast of Japan’s main island, unleashed a devastating tsunami and was followed by more than 50 aftershocks.

The incident led to fires, explosions or partial meltdowns of six reactor units in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after it knocked out power to the facility’s cooling systems.

The destruction has also been followed by a radiation leak and nuclear fallout has been reported in many places across the world.