Iran Urges IAEA to Condemn Israeli Sabotage of Karaj Site

Iran nuclear chief confirms center is 'severely damaged'

Iranian nuclear chief Mohammed Eslami has issued a statement on the June 23 Israeli attack on a centrifuge site at Karaj, confirming Israel had “severely damaged” the facility, and urging the IAEA to clarify its position on the matter.

The IAEA tends to avoid criticizing Israel, and Iran is very keen to get a statement where the watchdog criticizes the sabotage attack. In particular, Iran has suggested they’d be more inclined to give the IAEA increased access if they’d made such a statement.

This was just one of several Israeli sabotage attacks, and Iran is desperate for some indication that the international community isn’t comfortable with that. The Iranian parliament has made several resolutions calling for limited cooperation to protest that.

IAEA cameras were damaged during the Israeli attack, which Iran seemed to hope would upset them a bit. Iran is not letting IAEA access the site to replace the cameras, however, reflective of them not condemning the attack.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.