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JEDDAH: Iran is facing a humiliating rebuke from the UN nuclear watchdog for blocking inspectors’ access to a workshop that makes equipment for enriching uranium.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been denied “indispensable” access to the TESA Karaj complex. Tehran claimed on Monday that the site was not covered by an agreement with the agency in September for its inspectors to service monitoring cameras and replace memory cards.
The complex makes components for centrifuges, and was hit by a sabotage attack in June in which one of four IAEA cameras there was destroyed. Iran removed them and the destroyed camera’s footage is missing.
The US said Iran should allow immediate access to the site or face diplomatic retaliation by the agency’s board of governors within days. “We call on Iran to provide the IAEA with needed access without further delay,” said Louis Bono, the US representative at the agency. “If Iran fails to do so, we will be closely consulting with other board members in the coming days on an appropriate response.”
The European Union also called on Iran to grant access “without any further delay.”
An IAEA resolution criticising Tehran is likely to kill off hopes of resuming talks aimed at reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday that Iran sought to dominate the Middle East under a “nuclear umbrella” and urged a concerted international effort to halt its nuclear activities.
“Iran’s nuclear weapons program has hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance. Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning,” Bennett told the UN General Assembly.
“The program is at a critical point. All red lines have been crossed, inspections ignored. They’re getting away with it. But if we put our heads to it, if we’re serious about stopping it, if we use our resourcefulness, we can prevail.”