IAEA has not accessed all Iran nuclear sites

A report in an Israeli newspaper says UN officials have been ‘reluctant’ to confront Iran on the issue

Suspected Iranian nuclear sites have remained largely off limits to IAEA inspectors tasked with measuring Tehran’s compliance with a nuclear accord it reached with world powers under the Obama administration.

A report in the Israeli daily, Haaretz said that in 2016, a few months after the nuclear agreement with Iran went into effect, a Western entity gave the International Atomic Energy Agency information regarding sites Tehran did not report as part of its nuclear programme and where, according to suspicions, forbidden nuclear military research and development activity was being conducted. The Western entity also shared the information with six world powers who were party to the nuclear agreement, unnamed Israeli officials said.

Iran has refused the IAEA access and UN officials have been “reluctant” to confront Iran on the issue, the officials added.

The issue of Iran’s nuclear programme is expected to figure prominently during a one on one meeting between Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly today. The nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers included an oversight mechanism for a list of sites officially identified as part of Iran’s nuclear programme which include uranium enrichment plants in Natanz and Qom, as well as other sites like uranium mines and facilities for the production of centrifuges and a heavy water facility in Arak.