IAEA Says Does Not Take Intelligence at Face Value after Israel's Claims on Iran

TEHRAN (defapress) – The UN nuclear watchdog said its independence is paramount and it does not take intelligence presented to it at face value, in an apparent response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s description of a “secret atomic warehouse” in Iran.

News ID: 72824

Date: 02 October 2018 - 17:00

“The agency sends inspectors to sites and locations only when needed. The agency uses all safeguards relevant to information available to it but it does not take any information at face value,” International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Yukiya Amano said in a statement on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

“In order to maintain credibility, the agency’s independence in relation to the implementation of verification activities is of paramount importance,” he said.

“All information obtained, including from third parties, is subject to rigorous review and assessed together with other available information.”

In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Netanyahu once again accused Iran of developing a nuclear weapons program. He claimed he was revealing the existence of a “secret atomic warehouse” in Tehran but offered no proof of the claim or details.

In response, Iranian officials dismissed the claim as a despicable lie and said such lies are aimed at covering up the Tel Aviv regime’s heinous crimes against the defenseless people of Palestine.

Israel is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, but its policy is to neither confirm nor deny that it has atomic bombs. The Tel Aviv regime is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

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