AJC: New IAEA Report on Iran Alarming Reminder of Threat

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Feb 24, 2012, 03:17 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC called a new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report an alarming reminder of the threat that Iran's ongoing defiance poses to global security.

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"Iran's attitude should profoundly concern the international community and reinforce the need for maximum economic and diplomatic pressure to stop its nuclear weapons program," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Continuing to ratchet up global sanctions targeting Iran's banking and energy sectors is essential to show Tehran that its defiance is not cost-free."

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, in his new quarterly report, wrote that the agency "continues to have serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program."

The new report comes just days after Iran stymied an IAEA delegation from visiting certain nuclear facilities to confirm that they are not military related. Amano pointed out that Iran's full cooperation "is needed to establish international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program."

Since Iran has not provided the requested cooperation, "the agency is unable to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear materials in Iran is in peaceful activities," he added.

In November, the IAEA issued a comprehensive and damning report indicating that Iran is advancing on a nuclear weapons program. The new report concludes that, over the past four months, Iran has continued to carry out uranium enrichment in defiance of IAEA and UN Security Council resolutions.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee