Iran temporarily shuttered its nuclear facilities citing “security considerations” following a significant missile and drone assault on Israel. Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), disclosed the closure, expressing concern over potential Israeli retaliation.
While addressing journalists during a UN Security Council meeting, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was queried about his apprehensions regarding the potential of an Israeli counterstrike on an Iranian nuclear installation in response to the recent attack.
Iran celebrates attack on Israeli occupation as members of the Iranian Parliament fire over 300 drones and missiles at Israel from Iran, Iraq, and Yemen, with the vast majority intercepted by Israel. pic.twitter.com/rvZ1HJW8F5
— Prime Phoenix (@IAmPrimePhoenix) April 14, 2024
“We are always concerned about this possibility. What I can tell you is that our inspectors in Iran were informed by the Iranian government that yesterday (Sunday), all the nuclear facilities that we are inspecting every day would remain closed on security considerations,” he said.
Grossi stated that the facilities were scheduled to reopen on Monday, but the inspectors would not be back until the following day.
“I decided to not let the inspectors return until we see that the situation is completely calm,” he added, while calling for “extreme restraint”.
In response to an alleged Israeli airstrike on an Iranian consular building in Damascus, Iran carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, launching around 300 attack drones and missiles directly from its territory.
This marked the first-ever direct assault on Israel by the Islamic Republic. The attack triggered air raid sirens throughout Israel early Sunday as the military worked to intercept the Iranian projectiles. Israeli air defense systems, with assistance from the United States and other allies, managed to intercept majority of the projectiles, resulting in only minor damage.
Israel has a history of conducting operations against nuclear sites in the region. In 1981, Israel conducted a bombing raid on the Osirak nuclear reactor in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, despite objections from Washington.
Subsequently, in 2018, Israel acknowledged its involvement in a covert air raid against a reactor in Syria that had occurred 11 years earlier. Additionally, Tehran accuses Israel of assassinating two Iranian nuclear physicists in 2010 and kidnapping another the year before.
In 2010, a highly advanced cyberattack involving the Stuxnet virus caused significant disruptions in Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran attributed this attack to Israel and the United States.
The primary targets were Iranian centrifuges employed for uranium enrichment. Israel alleges that Iran seeks to develop an atomic bomb, a claim Tehran vehemently denies.
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