Saudi Gazette report

VIENNA — Saudi Arabia has joined the global chorus of concern over Iran’s nuclear activities after the UN nuclear watchdog voiced concern over Tehran’s behavior in its latest report.

Saudi Arabia’s governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency Prince Abdullah Bin Khalid Bin Sultan commented on the latest report in a series of tweets on Thursday following a briefing from IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi.

“Iran has failed for over two years to provide credible answers about its nuclear program in a complete and timely manner,” Prince Abdullah Bin Khalid said.

“Flouting such obligations undermines the integrity of the IAEA Safeguards system and reinforces the need for strict accountability measures in any renewed deal.”

The latest reports of IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi clearly reflect Iran's continued failure to cooperate with the IAEA regarding Safeguards issues, which are the core of the global non-proliferation regime and must not be confused with other nuclear-related commitments, the Saudi envoy added.

He reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s unflinching support to the IAEA chief and the Kingdom’s steadfast commitment to helping the UN nuclear agency carry out its mandate and uncover the truth about the nature of Iran's nuclear program, given Tehran’s flagrant non-peaceful nuclear ambitions.

The IAEA on Monday said that Iran has not clarified queries over sites where undeclared nuclear activity may have occurred and reported Tehran’s enriched uranium stockpile was around 16 times the limit laid out in a 2015 deal.

An IAEA report said Grossi was "concerned that the technical discussions between the agency and Iran have not yielded the expected results," referring to exchanges on the sites with Iranian officials.

In a separate report, the agency said Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium is around 16 times the limit laid down in the 2015 deal with world powers. It gave an estimate of a stockpile of 3,241 kg (7,145 pounds) but cautioned that it was not able to verify the total.

The limit laid down in the deal was 300 kg of uranium in a particular compound form, the equivalent of 202.8 kg of uranium.

A joint statement by France, Germany, and the UK to the board of governors earlier this week supported the IAEA’s work.

“In limiting IAEA access, Iran makes it harder for the international community to assure themselves that Iran’s activities remain exclusively peaceful,” it said.

The United States also urged Iran in a statement to the board to “fully cooperate.”