UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the UN Security Council on Friday the International Atomic Energy Agency can do this “through a watertight inspection system.”
He said elements for an agreement on reining in Iran’s nuclear program have been discussed.
He was speaking at an emergency meeting of the Security Council about the Israel-Iran conflict.
Grossi called for “maximum restraint” in the war, adding: “A diplomatic solution is within reach if the necessary political will is there.”
He warned against any potential attack on Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant as well as a research reactor near Tehran, saying it could lead to radiation leaks with “severe consequences.”
Even a hit that disabled the two lines supplying electrical power to the Bushehr plant “could cause its reactor core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment,” he added.
Grossi said Israeli attacks on nuclear sites at Natanz and Isfahan and at the Arak heavy water plant have so far not led to any radiological release.
He said an Israeli military official erroneously reported Thursday that Bushehr was hit by an airstrike, but Israel then retracted that claim. He stressed that the confusion “underscored the vital need for clear and accurate communication.”
More on the Tehran Research Reactor
The Tehran Research Reactor is at the headquarters of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the civilian body overseeing the country’s atomic program.
The US actually provided Iran the reactor in 1967 as part of America’s “Atoms for Peace” program during the Cold War. It initially required highly enriched uranium but was later retrofitted to use low-enriched uranium over proliferation concerns
Iran’s only commercial nuclear power plant is in Bushehr on the Arabian Gulf, some 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Tehran. Construction on the plant began under Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the mid-1970s. After the 1979 revolution, the plant was repeatedly targeted in the Iran-Iraq war. Russia later completed construction of the facility.
Iran is building two other reactors like it at the site. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA.
