The New York Times revealed early morning (Friday) new details about the secret nuclear facility that Iran is building south of Natanz, and which was first revealed last month in a speech delivered by Defense Secretary Benny Gantz.
According to the Times, this is the largest effort seen so far by Iran to build new nuclear facilities, dug in the mountains and capable of withstanding attacks by bombers penetrating bunkers and possibly even cyber attacks.
Exactly one month ago, on May 17, Gantz revealed that Iran was building a large underground facility south of the Natanz nuclear site, where it intends to operate up to a thousand advanced IR6 centrifuges, which are banned under the nuclear deal.
A report in the Times noted that the Biden administration has to this day refrained from mentioning the secret facility - perhaps out of fear that the issue would further complicate the nuclear talks with Tehran.
Centrifuges at the Netanz nuclear facility // Photo: AP,
The newspaper's talks with senior national security officials in both the United States and Israel show that there is a lack of clarity and professional disagreement about how Iran intends to use the new tunnel network, and even about the urgency of the new threat. Be critical of the Iranian nuclear effort in the event that no agreement is reached with the US.
The report also states that Iran is apparently using the new facility it is building as a means of putting pressure on the United States to obtain concessions in the nuclear talks. As a "fatal blow to hopes of reviving the agreement."
As mentioned earlier, the IAEA Council of Governors, convened earlier this month, ruled that Iran had failed to provide reliable information about enriched uranium particles found at three sites in the country. With the agency.
The IAEA's decision may lead to the return of the discussion of Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council - the body with the broadest powers to impose sanctions on unruly countries.
At the same time, it is estimated that further condemnations and negative decisions by the IAEA will be required with respect to Iran, before the issue is returned to the Security Council.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us
