Bennett warns Grossi to counter the possibility of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Friday, June 4, that Israel "prefers a diplomatic path to confront the possibility of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon, but if the international community fails to achieve this goal within a reasonable period of time, it will take action against Iran itself."

Mr. Bennett added: "We reserve the right to "defend ourselves" and take action to "stop Iran's nuclear program."

According to the Ynet news website, the Israeli Prime Minister emphasized "the depth of the danger of Iran's continued progress towards acquiring a nuclear weapon while misleading the international community by providing false and misleading information."

Mr. Grossi traveled to the country on the evening of June 3 to meet and discuss with Naftali Bennett and other senior Israeli officials, ahead of the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors, and returned to Vienna on Friday afternoon, June 4.

Ahead of the upcoming meeting of the Board of Governors, Britain, France, and Germany have drafted a new resolution calling on Iran to cooperate with the Agency.

The White House announced on June 3 that the Joe Biden administration would support this move by the three European countries on the Board of Governors.

Naftali Bennett told Rafael Grossi that it was important for the IAEA Board of Governors, as "a professional, impartial and independent institution," to "send a clear message to Iran."

However, according to Ynet and Valanews, Israel is struggling to ensure that the outcome of the periodic meeting of the Board of Governors from June 6 to 10 is the issuance of a resolution condemning Iran.

The last resolution of this nuclear watchdog regarding Iran was issued two years ago.

According to Valanews, on the eve of the Board of Governors meeting, Naftali Bennett's government launched a broad political and media campaign to show that Iran has been hypocritical in its relations with the Agency for years.

A few days before Mr. Grossi's visit to Israel, Naftali Bennett published, via Google Drive, a portion of documents from 2004 and 2005 on the history of Iran's nuclear program that the Israeli Mossad stole from Tehran in the winter of 2018.

Mr. Bennett, in publicly releasing the documents, said that Iran had both “lied” to the International Atomic Energy Agency and spied on the agency to prepare answers to the agency’s questions at the time. He was referring to documents from the correspondence between Iranian nuclear and military program officials at the time.

Meanwhile, according to Israeli media, Mr. Grossi's current visit to Jerusalem took place in a situation where Israel has presented a new plan to the United States regarding Iran's nuclear program, based on which, in order to maintain pressure on Iran, the "sunset clause" of the JCPOA would be removed if it were revived.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel's National Security Advisor Eyal Kholata shared the new plan with the White House during a meeting in Washington this week and is also set to present it to Britain, France, and Germany.

According to a new report by the IAEA, Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium has increased 18 times compared to the nominal limit it was authorized to have under the JCPOA agreement, reaching more than 3,809 kilograms. Of this material, 43 kilograms is 60 percent enriched uranium.

Under the JCPOA, Iran was only allowed to retain a total of 203 kilograms of enriched uranium.

Iran's current level of enriched uranium means that the time gap between Tehran having the necessary materials to mount on a possible nuclear bomb has been reduced to "zero."

Mr. Grossi also told the Board of Governors in recent days that Iran had not provided satisfactory answers to questions from IAEA inspectors about the uranium found at three sites in Iran. Israel played a significant role in exposing the three sites, including Turqoozabad.

The Board of Governors is scheduled to meet next Monday, while Iran's negotiations with world powers, which were also considered indirect talks with the United States, have been effectively suspended for three months.

Iran has already warned against "unconstructive actions" at the upcoming IAEA meeting.

Tehran, which continues to claim that it has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, blames Israel for a series of sabotage explosions at the Natanz nuclear site and the killing of a number of scientists in Iran's nuclear program.

Since Iran's nuclear program became public two decades ago, Israel has placed confronting it as a "vital threat" at the forefront of its plans.

In recent days, the Israeli army has continued extensive military preparations for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Israel, which has deliberately kept its nuclear bomb capability in limbo to serve as a "deterrent," has long had on its agenda, according to numerous reports, action against other countries in the region that seek to acquire military nuclear capabilities.

Within the framework of the aforementioned agenda, Israel has destroyed, among others, the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq and the reactor under construction in Deir Ezzor in Syria.

Israel is not a member of the IAEA's Board of Governors, but it has been a member since its inception in 1957. IAEA inspectors have been monitoring a part of Israel's nuclear program, known as "Shorak," since 1966.

Western media reports claim that the important, possibly military, part of Israel's nuclear program is operating outside the IAEA's oversight because it is not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Rafael Grossi tweeted on Friday that he had stressed the importance of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in international peace and security during a meeting with Naftali Bennett.

Source: Radio Farda