US Official Urges Atomic Watchdog To Probe Netanyahu’s Claims On Iran
Image by getty images
(JTA) — A State Department official called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims about a secret nuclear warehouse in Tehran.
Netanyahu made the claim about the facility in the Turquzabad district of the Iranian capital Thursday during a speech at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
Netanyahu claimed the warehouse was used for “storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran’s secret weapons program,” which was being moved to other parts of the city. He urged the IAEA to investigate the locale.
In a statement quoted by Reuters, a State Department official said following Netanyahu’s claims that it was “absolutely imperative that the IAEA fully exercise its authorities in order to provide confidence to the international community that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran.”
An unnamed U.S. diplomatic source quoted by the Israel Broadcasting Corp. said: “The latest revelation of nuclear documents requires the Agency to find out if Iran is hiding nuclear materials or activity.”
In April, Israel announced it had stolen more than 100,000 documents from a Tehran archive detailing the Iranian nuclear program.
Iran has denied Netanyahu’s claims about a nuclear warehouse.
An unnamed U.S. intelligence source was quoted by the Israel Broadcasting Corp. as disputing Netanyahu’s claims about the warehouse.
“What Netanyahu said last night was slightly misleading,” the source was quoted as saying. “We knew about the facility in Tehran and it’s a place full of file cabinets and documents, not aluminum pipes or centrifuges. Secondly, there’s nothing in that facility that can be seen as an Iranian violation of the nuclear deal.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
