Mere detection of nuclear traces doesn’t mean Iran has undeclared material: Official

An Iranian nuclear official says the mere detection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of nuclear traces at sites in Iran does not mean that the country has undeclared nuclear material in its possession.

Behrouz Kamalavandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said on Tuesday that remarks by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi a day earlier regarding potentially undeclared sites in Iran were unwarranted.

“Since the Agency (IAEA) has accounted for all of Iran’s declared nuclear material and there is no discrepancy, the mere detection of contamination in some sites cannot be taken to mean undeclared nuclear material,” Kamalvandi said.

Grossi had said in his Monday remarks, “Everything is interconnected” and the revival of the Iran deal “could facilitate us getting to broader conclusions” about Iran’ nuclear program.

“Frankly, the information gap is bigger and bigger and bigger,” he had said. “We don’t want to sound dramatic, but the reality is that it’s going to be extremely difficult, and we will have to work very hard, and Iran will have to be very transparent.”

Kamalvandi said the comment about an inspection gap had no legal basis because “what is today not being carried out is related to” the Iran deal, the status of which is in limbo.

Kamalvandi said the restoration of any activity as per the deal hinged on the removal of the sanctions that were imposed on Iran after the US’s withdrawal and the upholding of the deal by all sides.

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