IAEA Chief Admits Iran’s Capture of Sensitive Israeli Intel
LONDON (Dispatches) – The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said here Monday that the intelligence Iran has seized from Israel’s nuclear program “seems to refer” to the Soreq Nuclear Research Center, the first acknowledgment outside of Tehran of the bombshell.
The office of Israel’s prime minister had no immediate response on the remarks by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, who spoke during a news conference in Vienna.
Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib told national TV on Sunday that sensitive Israeli documents obtained by Tehran should be unveiled soon, describing them as a “treasure trove” which will strengthen Iran’s offensive capabilities.
Khatib said the “comprehensive and complex operation” was carried out inside the Israeli occupied territories and “achieved an important treasury of strategic, operational and scientific intelligence of the Zionist regime and it was transferred into the country with God’s help”.
Israel’s Channel 12 said Iran has described the operation as a “painful blow” to the regime.
In his remarks on Monday, Grossi made no mention of Israel’s atomic arsenal, drawing attention only to Iran’s uranium enrichment.
The IAEA chief admitted that uranium enrichment is not inherently a prohibited activity, and that