Ex-IAEA chief challenges U.S., Israeli nuke reports on Iran

PanARMENIAN.Net - A former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency has challenged a report delivered by the IAEA in November on Iran’s nuclear activities, pinpointing that the agency receives unverified intelligence, mostly from the U.S. and Israel, Press TV reported.

In an exclusive interview with Qatar-based news network, Al Jazeera, Hans Blix stated that the IAEA received information from a variety of sources, mostly from the United States and Israel.

“My view is that they must assess it very carefully and critically because otherwise they can be pulled by their noose,” he asserted. “I remember from inspections in 2002 and 2003 that there was a famous document that alleged to be a contract between Iraq and Niger for the import of yellow cake of uranium oxide quoted by [former U.S.] President [George W.] Bush in his State of the Union message. The IAEA had it for one day and concluded that it was a forgery. [Former IAEA head, Mohamed] ElBaradei then announced it was not authentic. That shows how careful you have to be,” Blix stated.

Regarding the Western hype over Iran’s Parchin military site, Blix said, “They (the inspectors) have been there several times,” adding, “Parchin is a military site with thousands of buildings. Any country would be reluctant to let international inspectors go anywhere near their military sites.” “In a way the Iranians have been more open [about their nuclear activities] than most other countries would be,” he added.

Blix also questioned the Israeli warnings of Iran’s bid to build a nuclear bomb, saying according to Tel Aviv, Tehran should have had a nuclear bomb a long time ago. The former IAEA chief further criticized Tel Aviv’s rhetoric regarding a potential bid to launch a strike on Iran. Blix also called on the Western powers to alter their “menacing” and “threatening” attitude toward Iran so that the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear energy program might be resolved.