Iran Says Can’t Guarantee Safety of IAEA Monitors
By Yadnom Awu/Asaba
Iran Says it cannot undertake to guarantee the security of inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA.
The position of the Iranian government was made public today by the Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi.
He said that after the recent war between it and Israel, Iran was not in any position to guarantee the safety and security of the IAEA experts.
The IAEA is the nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, UN, and its experts had been closely monitoring the nuclear programme of Iran, while officials of both Iran and America dialogued on it.
The Iranian/ American dialogue was still ongoing when Israel, in a surprise move, launched a high heel military campaign against it, in an attempt to destroy its nuclear facilities.
Iran fiercely responded to the attack and both nations exchanged high calibre military gunfire for 12 days during which America interjected with unprecedented strikes of its own on the Persian state.
The American attack, which involved 125 aircraft flying non-stop for 36 hours to and from Iran, targeted the nuclear facilities in Isfahan Natanz and Fordow, the last of which is some 300 feet below a rocky mountain.
Following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, American President Donald Trump, hinted at the imminence of resumed talks between Iran and officials of his country on the future of Iran’ s nuclear programme.
America reportedly laced its hint with the offer of a $30billion fund, the ease of the crippling sanctions on it and exfoliation of the restriction placed on its limited( frozen) assets.
Since the hint, Iran had kept mum on it, thus keeping everyone in suspense.
Today, however, Teheran broke the silence and the suspension by clearly stating that it could not guarantee the security of IAEA officials, who, according to Rafael Grossi, its Director – General, had been eager to return to work at the sites in Iran.
Araghchi told the global media that Teheran could not guarantee the security of the agency’s officials, but offered no explanation.
His comments came against the backdrop that America had not conceded to guarantee that Iran would not be attacked again if it agreed to resume talks.
In fact, in a recent interview, President Trump had categorically said that he would not hesitate to strike Iran again if it resumed its nuclear enrichment programme.
The American threat ruffled feathers,especially in Iran, which had stridently rallied global interests to the illegality against it by both America and its proxy and ally, Israel.
Iran had consistently accused the IAEA of sharing intelligence on its nuclear facilities with Mossad, the external secret service of Israel, and Shin Bet, the internal soy agency of the Jewish state.
Categorically, Iran had said the shared intelligence was what enabled Israel strike dead the echelon of its military, intelligence and nuclear programme experts at the onset of its recent war between both countries.
Both the IAEA and Israel deny the accusation.
Pakistan, China, Russia, France and the global South and the Arab world had tagged the strikes by both countries as illegal under international law and the IAEA principles.
But Israel and America differed, saying Iran, which they tagged a terror sponsor, must never be allowed to develop the prestigious nuclear weapon.
Iran’ s public submission of its inability to guarantee the safety of the IAEA officials adds a new layer to the growing welter of complex issues involved in the country’s nuclear programme and how the rest of the world, especially the Western segment of it, is handling it.
However, it remains unclear whether today’s statement by Iran is a true reflection of its genuine fear for the safety of the officials, or a decoy for its objections to the American/ Israeli strikes as well as its reluctance to resume the talks.
Israel, is a rogue nuclear state,with a stock of about 400 units of the dreaded weapon.
America, China,India, Pakistan, France, Britain, North Korea and Russia are the official nuclear countries in the world .
Russia has the single largest stock of the Atomic bomb, with its stock more than the total for the rest of the world out together.
