DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Wednesday it has given the United Nations new points of focus on two sites near Tehran that inspectors say had synthetic uranium lines, as part of a broader investigation at a time when tensions remain high over the Islamic Republic. Advancement Program
The comments via Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear program, come as the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers continues to tatter and Tehran enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. Resolving the International Atomic Energy Agency’s problems may allow Iran to increase censorship ahead of an October deadline that would also lift foreign restrictions on its ballistic missile program.
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Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Eslami said Iran had sent “detailed responses” to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“If those answers are not accepted and there are ambiguities or doubts, as we have said, we will explain and review the documents,” Eslami said in comments broadcast on state television. “We are now at this stage now, and we have given the IAEA more evidence and documents and we will give it more so that it can succeed on this issue. “
The Vienna-based IAEA did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. However, Eslami’s comments mark a change in tone, as Iran limited inspections, withheld surveillance footage and took years to respond to the IAEA after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally spoke out. withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal in 2018.
Eslami did not call the sites, although the IAEA knew them as Turkzabad and Varamin outside Tehran. convert it into a gaseous form, which can then be enriched by centrifugation. The IAEA said the buildings at the site were demolished in 2004.
Tehran insists its program is peaceful, with the West and the IAEA saying Iran had an organized military nuclear program until 2003.
Turkqzabad is where the IAEA believes Iran took some of Varamin’s curtains amid the demolition, though it said this alone cannot “explain the presence of the isotopically changed types of particles” discovered there.
In 2018, the site became known to the public after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed it to the United Nations and called it a clandestine nuclear warehouse hidden in a carpet cleaning factory. Iran denied it, IAEA inspectors later discovered the remnants of synthetic uranium there. .
The IAEA said in May it had no further questions about a third party called Marivan near Abadeh in southern Iran.
In recent months, Iran has pledged to repair cameras and other surveillance devices at its nuclear sites. That’s when Iran’s economy collapsed under foreign sanctions over its program.
Meanwhile, Iran will likely need to resolve any disputes at the IAEA, as UN restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program are set to be lifted on Oct. 18. These restrictions require that Iran “not adopt any activity similar to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. “
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www. twitter. com/jongambrellAP.
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