Iran Warns about Consequences of Sabotage against N. Sites

Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Kazzem Qaribabadi said that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was immediately informed of the suspicious moves of an IAEA inspector who was trying to sneak an unannounced belonging into a nuclear site on Wednesday, adding that Tehran will not compromise security of it atomic facilities.

Qaribabadi 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 the 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, Qaribabadi 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.

On Wednesday, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced that it has not allowed an inspector of the IAEA to enter a nuclear site for carrying “suspicious” materials.

The AEOI added that the female inspector 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,” it added.

“Upon this lady inspector’s entry, the security control machines sounded the alarm and denied her entry,” the statement said, adding then that Iran had reported the issue to the IAEA.

Iran also told the IAEA in a 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 city of Vienna.

The report also asked the agency to help with investigations into the matter and it accepted.

“The investigations are ongoing,” the AEOI said, noting that the Iranian mission at the IAEA would present it with a comprehensive report on the matter on Thursday.

The IAEA monitors have been traveling in and out of Iran over the past months amid Tehran’s decision to cut back on its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in response to violations by the US and a lack of action to salvage the accord on part of the European signatories — the UK, France and Germany.

Iran on Wednesday midnight took the fourth step to scale down its nuclear deal undertakings by injecting gas into 1,044 centrifuges at Fordo nuclear site.