Nuclear watchdog disputes Iran claim on blocked inspector

Iran alleged Thursday that the U.N. inspector it blocked from a nuclear site last week tested positive for suspected traces of explosive nitrates. Meeting in Vienna, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, disputed Iran’s claim.

The allegation made by Iranian representative Kazem Gharib Abadi came as Iran injected uranium gas into centrifuges at its underground Fordo nuclear complex Thursday, taking its most significant step away from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Fordo’s 1,044 centrifuges previously spun without uranium gas for enrichment under the deal, which saw Iran limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

The 2015 nuclear deal with world powers had called for Fordo to become “a nuclear, physics and technology center.” Now, it’s become an active nuclear site again and represents the most serious step away from the deal it has taken amid the tensions.

The Oct. 28 incident with the inspector happened at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, which includes the majority of the centrifuges now enriching uranium in the country.

“The detector’s alarm [at the facility’s entrance] went off and it was signaling to a specific person,” he said. As they waited for a female employee to search the inspector, who is also female, the woman went off to the bathroom.

Abadi alleged when she came back, she no longer tested positive. He said the team took samples from the bathroom and seized her handbag.

Abadi said he hoped further tests by Iran and the IAEA would explain what happened. Iran’s nuclear industry has been targeted by sabotage and its scientists assassinated in the past.

The IAEA offered a rare statement to journalists disputing Abadi’s account, saying it “does not agree with Iran’s characterization of the situation involving the inspector, who was carrying out official safeguards duties in Iran.”

Jackie Wolcott, the U.S. representative to the IAEA, earlier called the inspector’s rejection an “outrageous provocation.”

The IAEA meeting also included discussions about an undeclared site on the outskirts of Tehran that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described to the U.N. in 2018 as a “secret atomic warehouse.”

Senior Israeli intelligence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press, alleged the site contained undeclared nuclear materials. They claimed there were “several other” similar clandestine nuclear facilities under the purview of Iran’s Defense Ministry, not the country’s civilian atomic energy agency.

Iran has denied the claims by Israel, which has its own undeclared nuclear weapons program.

The IAEA released no information about those discussions Thursday.

ATOMIC ENERGY ORGANIZATION OF IRAN VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS A photo dated Nov. 5 shows centrifuge machines in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, where a U.N. inspector was blocked from entry. Iran claimed she tested positive for traces of explosive nitrates, a claim disputed by the U.N. agency.