Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Iran nuclear program ‘moving ahead very, very fast,’ IAEA head warns

The program is growing in both “ambition and in capacity,” says Rafael Grossi.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi addresses the IAEA Board of Governors, March 9, 2020. Credit: D. Calma/IAEA.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi addresses the IAEA Board of Governors, March 9, 2020. Credit: D. Calma/IAEA.

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday that Iran’s nuclear program was advancing rapidly and that “good words” from Iran were not sufficient to satisfy inspectors.

“They have a very ambitious nuclear program that needs to be verified in the appropriate way,” he said, according to Reuters. The program was growing in “ambition and capacity,” and “moving ahead very, very fast,” he added.

Speaking in response to a question about the IAEA’s role in monitoring a revived nuclear agreement with Iran, Grossi said: “When it comes to nuclear, good words will not do it.” What is needed, he continued, is transparency and compliance.

“We are ready, and I hope they will be as well,” he added, according to the report.

On Monday, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head Mohammad Eslami said that Iran already possesses the technical capability to produce an atomic bomb, but has no intention of doing so, according to the report.

The former U.N. ambassador and senior Likud member said he is focused on “significant decisions.”
Police suspect that the tunnel was recently excavated with the intention of carrying out terror attacks and the smuggling of Palestinians into Israel.
The former manager of Green Technology Investments allegedly shared confidential information and software with an associate connected to a competing company in Taiwan.
The former IDF officer and public diplomacy strategist will serve under National Public Diplomacy Directorate head Tzipi Hotovely.
The Israeli prime minister called the ordeal “10 years of hell.”
The Islamic Republic forced Washington to “retreat both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table,” said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Benny Gantz, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan S. Tobin, Gilad Erdan, Mosab Hassan Yousef, Nissim Black and leading voices in security, diplomacy, media, law and Jewish communal affairs headline the summit’s third day in Jerusalem.