IAEA and US Call on Iran to Explain Origin of Uranium Found at ‘Secret Warehouse’ in 2018

The International Atomic Energy Agency and the United States pressured Iran on Wednesday to explain the origin of uranium particles found two years ago at a site Israel called a “secret warehouse,” reported Reuters.

“We believe they need to give us information which is credible. What they are telling us from a technical point of view doesn’t add up, so they need to clarify this,” IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said at a meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors.

IAEA inspectors took samples at the Turqazabad site, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned in his speech to the United Nations in 2018. Iran claimed it was a carpet-cleaning facility.

“Whatever nuclear material left such traces was very likely enriched or irradiated. This raises a whole new series of questions about where such material came from and what Iran may still be hiding. It should be of the utmost concern to all Board members,” the United States said in a statement at the meeting, according to the report.