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Drone Targets Iran's Parchin Military Base

Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran (Reuters)
Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran (Reuters)
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Drone Targets Iran's Parchin Military Base

Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran (Reuters)
Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran (Reuters)

A drone targeted a highly sensitive military site outside Tehran where Iran develops missile, nuclear, and drone technology, according to media reports.

The New York Times quoted three Iranian sources and a US official saying that the drone exploded into a building used by the Ministry of Defense for research on drone development, killing a young engineer who worked at the ministry and injuring another person.

Informed Iranian sources said that a quadcopter drone had taken off from close to the Parchin military base.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack is similar to the one that targeted the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA) in Karaj last June, Iran attributed to Israel.

The New York Times reported that the attack fits a pattern of past Israeli strikes on Iran and Lebanon in a covert campaign of hostility that has been going on for years.

Tasnim News referred to an "industrial accident," but the Iranian Ministry of Defense statement said a person died in an incident without providing details.

Israeli officials declined to comment. A US official confirmed that suicide drones had attacked Parchin but did not say who was behind it or offer further details.

If confirmed, the attack would be the second of its kind targeting a center for Iranian drones, after an attack in early February, which targeted a facility near Kermanshah used for manufacturing and storage facility for military drones.

The incident came days after a colonel in the al-Quds Force was killed in front of his house in Tehran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) identified the man as Col. Sayad Khodayee and said he had fought for years in Syria as part of Iran's military deployment.

According to one intelligence official, Israel told Washington that it was behind his killing. The Israelis intended it as a warning to Iran to stop targeting Israeli citizens abroad.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata will travel to Washington next week to talk about a regional security project that Israel wishes to involve several regional countries to confront Iran.

Hulata will meet with his White House counterpart Jake Sullivan and other US officials to discuss President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to Israel and the stalled nuclear talks with Iran.

Hulata will travel to Washington with a delegation of national security, foreign policy, and intelligence officials who will hold another round of talks at the US-Israel strategic forum on Iran.

Media reports based on some Israeli government officials stated that Hulata and his team want to continue discussing a possible "Plan B" for a scenario where the US does not return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran soon.

Israeli officials say they want the US and its European allies to push for a censure resolution against Iran at the upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors meeting in June.

The advisor has led a tough line on Iran but at the same time encouraged Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to avoid public clashes and maintain good relations with the Biden administration.

Israeli officials said Hulata stressed in a security cabinet meeting that Israel would have to continue working closely with the Biden administration on Iran with or without a return to a deal.

An Israeli official told Channel 12 that the Israeli security services feared aboard operations in retaliation for the assassination of Khodayee.

The channel indicated that senior Israeli officials had held a series of consultations on this issue.

Officials may soon decide to increase travel warnings concerning visiting countries near Iran, adding that it is not about raising the travel warning level but rather about setting guidelines.

The channel quoted an Israeli source saying that Hulata will raise in Washington the issue of leaking news that the Israeli government informed White House officials that Khodayee was leading a secret unit in the al-Quds Force and that Israel had assassinated him.

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West: Iran’s Nuclear Drive Nearing Point of No Return

FILE - The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency flies in front of its headquarters during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
FILE - The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency flies in front of its headquarters during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
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West: Iran’s Nuclear Drive Nearing Point of No Return

FILE - The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency flies in front of its headquarters during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)
FILE - The flag of the International Atomic Energy Agency flies in front of its headquarters during an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

Europe and the United States on Wednesday expressed grave concern over Iran's nuclear escalation and called on Tehran to cooperate fully and effectively with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

In a joint statement, the E3, including France, the UK and German, said they consider triggering the snapback mechanism to address threats to international peace and security arising from Iran’s nuclear program, in the absence of any diplomatic progress.

On Wednesday, the IAEA Board of Governors started discussing Chief Rafael Grossi's report on Iran’s implementation of its nuclear commitments under the JCPoA.

Western nations are planning to table a resolution at the agency’s meeting that will find Iran in non-compliance with its so-called safeguards obligations for the first time in 20 years.

As IAEA Board of Governors met in Vienna, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a stark warning to European powers against the potential censure resolution.

In a post on X on Wednesday, he accused the three European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal, of failure to fulfill their obligations and cautioned them against committing another “major strategic mistake.”

“Instead of displaying remorse or a desire to facilitate diplomacy, the E3 is today promoting confrontation through the absurd demand that Iran must be punished for exercising its right under the JCPOA to respond to non-performance by counterparts,” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday that the country is prepared to take “immediate technical measures” should the resolution is passed.

“The necessary decisions have already been made within the state structure,” Gharibabadi was quoted as saying by state media.

Commenting on the threat of reimposing UN sanctions through the JCPOA’s “snapback mechanism,” Gharibabadi said the deal no longer exists in practice and that Western parties have forfeited any legal standing due to their non-compliance.

For its part, the EU on Wednesday said it remains gravely concerned by the expansion of Iran’s nuclear program, affirming it is a key security priority for the Union to ensure that Tehran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.

In a statement at the IAEA Board of Governors on the NPT Safeguards Agreement with Iran, the EU expressed support for a diplomatic solution and urged Iran to reverse course and return to compliance with its nuclear-related commitments.

The EU also called on Iran to fully cooperate with the IAEA and expressed support for Director General Rafael Grossi’s efforts to re-establish monitoring access.

“Iran’s unabated nuclear advances over the last five years are of utmost concern,” the EU said. “These actions have no credible civilian justification and carry very significant proliferation-related risks.”

Also, the EU said that Iran is now producing more than one significant quantity of uranium enriched to 60% each month.

The EU further said that former Iranian officials have made public statements about the country having all capabilities to assemble a nuclear weapon, deepening suspicions about Tehran’s intentions.

The Union then said that Iran has reduced its cooperation with the IAEA following Tehran’s withdrawal from the Additional Protocol to the NPT in February 2021, negatively impacting verification and control activities by limiting the IAEA’s access to Iranian nuclear facilities and information.

Also, the EU condemned Iran’s decision to cease implementation of monitoring measures and to remove IAEA surveillance equipment, actions that it said have irreparably disrupted oversight.

“The agency has lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the production and current inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium concentrate, which it will not be possible to restore. This has detrimental implications for the agency’s ability to provide assurance of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program,” it said.

Therefore, the EU urged Iran to reverse course and return to compliance with its nuclear-related commitments.

“We strongly urge Iran to return to the provisional implementation of the Additional Protocol, to ratify it, and to resume implementation of all JCPOA-related verification measures.”

In a similar move, the E3 countries handed a joint statement to the IAEA Board of Governors on Iran’s implementation of its nuclear commitments under the JCPoA.

They praised Grossi for his latest report on Iran’s nuclear program, which they said demonstrates the Agency’s professional, independent and impartial work providing objective reporting on Iran’s nuclear program and its implementation of its nuclear-related commitments under UN Security Council resolution 2231.

But the three countries said the content of Grossi’s latest report is far from positive. “Iran is moving even further from its JCPoA commitments, while at the same time it fails to improve its cooperation with the IAEA, despite the Board’s appeals.”

The E3 added, “Iran’s enrichment to 60% is unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons, and has no credible civilian justification. The IAEA is currently unable to verify that Iran’s escalating nuclear program is exclusively peaceful. That must be a concern for us all.”

Meanwhile, it said, Iran refuses to re-designate several experienced Agency inspectors. “This is a politically motivated decision which seriously affects the IAEA’s ability to conduct its verification in Iran, particularly at its enrichment facilities.”

Also, the E3 statement said as a result of Iran’s continued non-cooperation and lack of implementation of almost all transparency commitments made under the JCPoA, the Agency has permanently lost the continuity of knowledge on key parts of Iran’s nuclear program that relate to the production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate.

It added that it has been four years since Iran stopped provisionally applying its Additional Protocol, thus denying the Agency complementary access to any sites or other locations in Iran.

The E3 has consistently worked towards a diplomatic solution to address Iran’s nuclear program and to remove all doubts about its exclusively peaceful nature, the statement noted.

Yet, in 2022, it said Iran twice refused a viable deal that would have brought it back into compliance with the JCPoA, with a return to US participation, and instead Iran chose to continue to expand its nuclear activities.

And this year, it added, while engaging in dialogue with the US and the E3, Iran has continued its nuclear escalation unabatedly, even further beyond any credible civilian justification.

In this regard, the E3 called again on Iran to urgently change course, reverse its nuclear escalation and refrain from making threats regarding a change of its nuclear doctrine.

They also urged Iran to return to comply with its JCPoA commitments, restore full transparency with its nuclear program and implement the verification measures it committed to under the JCPoA and other transparency commitments.

“The E3 wants to see a diplomatic solution. We welcome the ongoing efforts to achieve this,” it said.

Later, the US envoy to the IAEA Board of Governors said Iran continues to accelerate its nuclear activities without any credible civilian justification.

“Iran now has a clear opportunity to build confidence... by implementing the Additional Protocol, not limiting inspections,” the envoy said.