Israel: Iran has a secret nuclear cache

ISRAEL has accused Iran of hiding nuclear material at a secret warehouse in Tehran, saying the facility was proof that Iran still holds ambitions to one day develop a nuclear weapon.

In a speech before the UN, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said his country’s spies had located “a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran’s secret nuclear weapons programme”.

Mr Netanyahu said Iran had recently moved 33lb of radioactive material from the warehouse and “spread it around Tehran in an effort to hide the evidence”. He claimed the warehouse at one point may have held up to 300 tons of material and equipment.

If the Israeli accusations are verified, it could provide proof that Iran is in breach of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

There was no immediate response from Iran to the accusations.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and European countries have consistently said Iran is abiding by the terms of the 2015 deal.

But Mr Netanyahu accused Britain, France and Germany of appeasement. “Have these European leaders learnt nothing from history?” he asked, as he challenged the IAEA to inspect the warehouse in the Turquzabad district.