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Iran previously conducted covert nuclear activities using undeclared materials at three sites that have been under investigation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report.
Israel said the report showed that Iran's nuclear programme was not peaceful and that Tehran remained determined to complete its nuclear weapons program.
"The international community must act now to stop Iran," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office PMO) said in a statement, adding that the level of uranium enrichment Iran had reached exists only in countries actively pursuing nuclear weapons.
"These three sites, and possibly related locations, were part of a classified nuclear program that Iran conducted until the early 2000s - partly using nuclear material that Tehran had not declared,' the UN watchdog wrote in the report that was sent to IAEA member states.
The IAEA criticised "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran over its scrutiny of Iran's nuclear program. "While Iran continues to cooperate with the agency on matters of routine safeguards implementation, in a number of respects... its cooperation with the agency has been less than satisfactory," the report said. It specifically notes Tehran's lack of progress in explaining nuclear material found at undeclared sites.
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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi
(Photo: AFP)
"In particular, Iran has repeatedly either not answered or not provided technically credible answers to the agency's questions and has sanitised locations as listed in this report, which has impeded agency verification activities."
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The IAEA also said that Iran has stepped up the production of highly enriched uranium in recent months. The agency spoke of "serious concern" that Iran had increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent between February and mid-May, and criticised "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran over its scrutiny of Iran's nuclear program.
Earlier on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview that Iran regarded nuclear weapons as unacceptable.
The United States has been negotiating with Iran to reach a new nuclear deal after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 agreement signed by then-president Barack Obama and world nations.