Iran’s Continued Stonewalling in Addressing Nuclear Weapons Concerns

Iran is continuing to stonewall the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s probe into Iran’s alleged nuclear weaponization activities.

According to the latest report by the IAEA, Iran failed to implement the five practical measures it agreed to complete by the August 25 deadline. It only implemented one of the measures by the deadline, implemented two others after the deadline, and has failed to implement the remaining two. The remaining two measures are of critical significance given that they relate to allegations of large scale high explosives experimentation in Iran as well as studies pertaining to the calculations and modelling of the size of a nuclear explosion. Additionally, Iran has continued to sanitize the Parchin military site, a location where nuclear weaponization activities allegedly occurred. Iran has repeatedly denied the IAEA’s request to visit the site.

Iran’s failure to address the concerns of the IAEA and by extension the international community only serve to reinforce the dangerous nature of Iran’s nuclear program. This failure on the part of Iran clearly indicates that Iran is not serious about abandoning its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability.

For the past year, President Rouhani has tried to portray himself as a moderate seeking constructive engagement with the world, but his actions do not back his rhetoric. It is not credible for Iran to say that its nuclear program is purely peaceful while they refuse to answer all outstanding questions on the possible military dimensions of its program and deny UN inspectors access to all of their nuclear facilities. So far, Iran continues to enrich uranium without having dismantled a single centrifuge.