The government office could not immediately be reached for comment
world1 day ago
Iran temporarily closed its nuclear facilities over "security considerations" in the wake of its massive missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend, the head of the UN's atomic watchdog said Monday.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a UN Security Council meeting, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi was asked whether he was concerned about the possibility of an Israeli strike on an Iranian nuclear facility in retaliation for the attack.
"We are always concerned about this possibility. What I can tell you is that our inspectors in Iran were informed by the Iranian government that (on Sunday), all the nuclear facilities that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations," he said.
The facilities were to reopen on Monday, Grossi said, but inspectors would not return until the following day.
"I decided to not let the inspectors return until we see that the situation is completely calm," he added, while calling for "extreme restraint".
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel overnight from Saturday into Sunday in retaliation for an air strike on a consular building in Damascus that killed seven of its Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals.
Israel and its allies shot down the vast majority of the weapons, and the attack caused only minor damage, but concerns about a potential Israeli reprisal have nevertheless stoked fears of all-out regional war.
Israel has carried out operations against nuclear sites in the region before.
In 1981, it bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, despite opposition from Washington. And in 2018, it admitted to having launched a top-secret air raid against a reactor in Syria 11 years prior.
Israel is also accused by Tehran of having assassinated two Iranian nuclear physicists in 2010, and of having kidnapped another the previous year.
Also in 2010, a sophisticated cyberattack using the Stuxnet virus, attributed by Tehran to Israel and the United States, led to a series of breakdowns in Iranian centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.
Israel accuses Iran of wanting to acquire an atomic bomb, something Tehran denies.
ALSO READ:
The government office could not immediately be reached for comment
world1 day ago
Britain's queen follows in the footsteps of late Queen Elizabeth, who announced she would stop buying fur in 2019
world1 day ago
UN agencies warn that the latest fighting has newly displaced nearly one quarter of the Gaza Strip's population this month
world1 day ago
Despite the bail, Khan, 71, will not be immediately released as he is serving sentences in two other cases
world1 day ago
Projections consistently show that low-lying Thai capital risks being inundated by the ocean before the end of the century
world1 day ago
The Israeli army sought an explanation for footage showing armed men next to UN Palestinian relief agency vehicles
world1 day ago
Pizzorusso is not the first person to have claimed to have solved the mystery but she cites her knowledge of geology to back her claims
world1 day ago
A central laboratory equipped with the latest technologies will analyse food samples, to make sure safe and quality food is offered to pilgrims
world1 day ago