IAEA FINDS TRACES OF URANIUM AT SITE NETANYAHU WARNED WAS ATOMIC WAREHOUSE

Samples taken by the U.N. nuclear watchdog at what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a “secret atomic warehouse” in Tehran showed traces of uranium that Iran has yet to explain, two diplomats who follow the agency’s inspections work closely say.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is investigating the particles’ origin and has asked Iran to explain the traces. But Tehran has not done so, according to the diplomats, stoking tensions between Washington and Tehran. US sanctions have slashed Iranian oil sales and Iran has responded by breaching its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

In a speech a year ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vehemently opposed the deal, called on the IAEA to visit the site immediately, saying it had housed 15 kg (33 lb) of unspecified radioactive material that had since been removed.

Reuters first reported in April that the IAEA, which is policing the nuclear deal, had inspected the site – a step it had said it takes “only when necessary” – and environmental samples taken there were sent off for analysis.

Israeli and US media have since reported that the samples turned up traces of radioactive material or matter – the same vague language used by Netanyahu.

MORE: https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/The-Tehran-site-Netanyahu-warned-is-atomic-warehouse-contained-Uranium-601026

IAEA FINDS TRACES OF URANIUM AT SITE NETANYAHU WARNED WAS ATOMIC WAREHOUSE