Cnn
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The leader of the UN nuclear custody says that the American strikes on Iran did not cause total damage to his nuclear program and that Tehran could restart enriching the uranium “in a few months”, contradicting President Donald Trump’s assertions that the United States has given the Tehran’s ambitions into account during the decades.
Rafael Grossi’s comments seem to support an early evaluation of the Defense Intelligence Agency of the Pentagon, Reported for the first time by CNNThis suggests that strikes in the United States on the main Iranian nuclear sites last week did not destroy the main components of its nuclear program, and probably heard it for months.
Although the last military and intelligence assessment has not yet come, Trump has repeatedly said that he “completely and completely erased” the Tehran nuclear program.
The 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran began earlier this month when Israel launched an unprecedented attack which he said to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb. Iran insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
The United States then struck three main Iranian nuclear sites before the start of a ceasefire. The extent of damage to the Tehran nuclear program has been strongly debated since.
US military officials have in recent days provided new information on strike planning, but has offered no new proof of their effectiveness against the Iranian nuclear program.
Following Classified briefings This week, Republican legislators recognized that American strikes may not have eliminated all Iran’s nuclear matters – but argued that this was never part of the military mission.
Asked about the various evaluations, Grosi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told CBS “Face The Nation with Margaret Brennan”: “This approach to hourglass in the weapons of mass destruction is not a good idea.”
“The capacities they have are there. They can have, in a few months, I would say, some centrifugal waterfalls that turn and produce enriched uranium, or less than that. But as I said, frankly, we cannot pretend that everything has disappeared and that there is nothing there,” he said to Brennan, by a transcription released before broadcasting.
“It is clear that there have been serious damage, but these are not total damage,” said Grosi. “Iran has capacities there; industrial and technological capacities. So if they wish, they can start doing this again. ”
Grossi also told CBS News that the IAEA had withstanding pressure to say if Iran had nuclear weapons or was close to having weapons before the strikes.
“We did not see a program that aimed in this direction (nuclear weapons), but at the same time, they did not answer very important questions that were waiting.”
CNN asked for comments from the White House on Grosi claims.
Grossi highlighted the need for the IAEA to be granted access to Iran, to assess nuclear activities. He said that Iran had disclosed information to the agency until the recent Israelis and the United States hit, but that “there were things that they did not clarify us”.
“In this sensitive area of the number of centrifugal and the quantity of equipment, we had a perfect view,” he said. “What worried was that there were other things that were not clear. For example, we had found traces of uranium in certain places in Iran, which were not the normal installations declared. And we asked for years, why did we find these traces of uranium enriched in place X, Y or Z? And we just don’t get credible answers. ”
The initial evaluation of the Pentagon said that Tehran may have moved part of the uranium enriched by the sites before being attacked, but Trump insisted that nothing was moved.
“It is logical to presume that when they announce that they will take protective measures, it could be part of it (move the equipment). But, as I said, we do not know where this equipment could be, or if a party could have been, you know, under the attack during these 12 days,” told Brennan.
Meanwhile, Tehran has made movements towards the withdrawal of international surveillance on its nuclear program.
The Iranian Parliament has adopted a bill interrupting cooperation with the United Nations nuclear guard dog, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, also said that the country could also rethink its membership in the Treaty of Non-Proliferation (NPT), which prohibits signatories from developing nuclear weapons.
