IAEA's Tepid Response to Netanyahu's Request for Visit to Iran's 'Secret Nuclear Warehouse'

Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), indirectly responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call for immediate dispatch of agency inspectors to a specific location in Iran, stating that IAEA inspectors have visited all necessary sites in Iran that require monitoring. According to Reuters, Amano announced on Tuesday, October 1, that the agency 'will send inspectors to the sites and locations as needed'; however, it 'does not accept any information that may seem valuable.' Netanyahu, in a speech at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly on October 5, requested Amano to quickly send agency inspectors to a location he referred to as another 'secret nuclear warehouse of Iran.' Netanyahu displayed a Google map and an image of a building entrance in 'Maher Alley' in the village of Torqozabad, located between Khahrizak and Islamshahr on the outskirts of Tehran, claiming that the agency has taken no action regarding information that Israel provided months ago about this 'secret warehouse.' He stated that the Director General of the agency is 'a good man' but should 'once and for all' explain why his country has not acted on this information. Netanyahu claimed that after Israel accessed Iran's nuclear archives in a warehouse in the Shourabad area of Tehran seven months ago, Iran has been dispersing the stored materials from Torqozabad throughout Tehran. He added that his country knows Iran removed 15 kilograms of uranium from this warehouse just last month. The Israeli Prime Minister asserted that Iranians have been rapidly cleaning the site in recent weeks and therefore the agency must act 'before it is too late.' However, Amano stated in his announcement that the agency conducts verification activities independently, and this independence is a priority for maintaining the agency's credibility. The Director General also added that the agency's actions regarding information provided by countries and individuals are based on the agency's assessments and investigations. Netanyahu mentioned that he had shared information about Torqozabad with the U.S. simultaneously months ago. However, a U.S. intelligence official, after Netanyahu's remarks, stated that his comments were 'somewhat misleading' and that the U.S. has been aware of this location for a long time, which is filled with folders and papers, not centrifuges. Iran immediately rejected Netanyahu's statements, calling them a repetition of the 'boy who cried wolf.' Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that 'no trick or sleight of hand can hide the fact that Israel is the only regime in our region with a secret and undeclared nuclear weapons program, including a real nuclear arsenal.' Meanwhile, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, assured in an interview published on Monday, October 1, in the newspaper Etemad, in response to Israel's access to Iranian nuclear documents, that 'no document has leaked from the agency.' Salehi's claim comes as Western countries, including the U.S., have confirmed the authenticity of sensitive Iranian documents that fell into Mossad's hands. The IAEA and many Western countries have stated that the information Israel has published based on the stolen Iranian nuclear archives pertains to the past nature of Iran's nuclear program. In recent days, the agency once again confirmed that Iran has fulfilled its commitments under the JCPOA. However, Netanyahu, who claims the JCPOA was based on 'Iran's lies,' recently questioned if Iran has truly abandoned its nuclear program, why it hid documents for making atomic bombs and still has a 'secret nuclear warehouse.' He also stated that his country 'will discover everything Iran hides.' The U.S., deeply pleased with Israel, exited the JCPOA on August 6 of this year, but Iran and five other powers are trying to preserve this agreement. Israel criticized Europe for a mechanism established in recent meetings between them and Iran to facilitate financial transactions with Iran and called for Europe to join sanctions similar to those imposed by the U.S. against Iran. A new round of U.S. sanctions against Iran will come into effect on November 4.