Israel Matzav

Foreign Ministry: IAEA still hiding material on Iran

The IAEA released a report on Iran's nuclear activities on Friday that was 'critical,' but according to Israeli foreign minisry spokesman Yigal Palmor, it wasn't critical enough.

IAEA officials said Iran was stonewalling the agency about "possible military dimensions" to its program. In the report, the IAEA said it has pressed Iran to clarify its uranium enrichment activities and reassure the world that it's not trying to build an atomic weapon.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in a prepared statement that the latest IAEA report, released Friday, "accuses Iran of defying [UN] Security Council decisions, but at the same time hides actual Iranian violations on its path toward military nuclear capability," "This is a harsh report, but it does not reflect all the information possessed by the IAEA on Iranian efforts to advance its military program, on its continuing efforts to hide and deceive, and on [Iran's] noncooperation with the IAEA and the demands of the international community," the statement read.

"The IAEA is the only body recognized by the international community that can prevent the games of deception being played by Iran as it works to build nuclear weapons," a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post Saturday.

If the Israeli foreign ministry knows something that can be disclosed without compromising intelligence sources, they ought to come out and say it. It's too late to be beating about the bush.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:57 AM