West News Wire: Following improvements in collaboration between Tehran and the nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has decided to shut the file on evidence of what is allegedly nuclear material at one of the supposed “undetected” sites in Iran.
After receiving a “possible explanation” from the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), the IAEA said in a confidential quarterly report on Wednesday that it had decided to end its investigation into uranium traces allegedly discovered at the Marivan site in Abadeh County, the southwestern province of Fars.
The subject is no longer open, according to the watchdog, and “the agency at this time has no additional questions on the depleted uranium particles detected at Marivan.”
The Marivan site is the first to be addressed under a work plan agreed upon by Iran and the IAEA back in March. The other two sites are in Varamin and Turquzabad, both located on the outskirts of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
The confidential report by the Vienna-based IAEA also said its inspectors no longer had questions on uranium particles found to be enriched to 83.7% at Iran’s underground Fordow facility.
“The agency informed Iran that, following its evaluation of the data, the agency had assessed that the information provided was not inconsistent with Iran’s explanation and that the agency had no further questions on this matter at this stage,” the report said.
The report came days before the IAEA’s Board of Governors is due to meet to review progress in addressing the watchdog’s remaining concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.
In March, Iran and the IAEA decided to take action to facilitate improved collaboration and hasten the resolution of pending safeguards problems.
The accusations made against Tehran’s peaceful nuclear activities by the CIA, which were influenced by Israel, are what set off the current dispute between the two parties. The IAEA is adamant about looking into what it calls “uranium traces” discovered at “undeclared nuclear sites” in Iran.
Mohammad Eslami, the chief of the AEOI, vehemently denied any assertions, including those made by the UN nuclear watchdog, that Iran was engaged in nuclear activity or was in possession of nuclear material last September.
In a meeting with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in Tehran early in March, Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi said Tehran expects the IAEA to adopt a “professional and fair” approach to its nuclear energy program and refrain from being affected by certain powers which are pursuing their own specific goals.
