By Xinhua,
Jerusalem: Israel Sunday urged the international community to take determined action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The Israeli foreign ministry also questioned the UN nuclear watchdog’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israel made the comments in response to the latest reports prepared by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on its investigations in Iran and Syria.
The report on Iran “contains serious findings of increased uranium enrichment in Iran, in violation of Security Council resolutions, as well as other activities that could be connected to a military nuclear programme,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The report also emphasises IAEA’s inability to carry out full and effective monitoring in Iran due to that country’s continued lack of cooperation,” the statement said.
“These findings demonstrate that the international community cannot place its trust in IAEA monitoring in Iran,” it added.
“Accordingly, what is needed from the international community is immediate and determined action to ensure that Iran will not be able to produce nuclear weapons,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Israel claimed that the report on Syria reinforces suspicions that Damascus is trying to blur evidence of secret nuclear activity in the eastern part of the country, and called on the IAEA to “condemn Syria for hiding the facts pertaining to this (nuclear) activity”.
“IAEA Director General (Muhammad El Baradei) has so far refrained from using all the means at his disposal to investigate Syria. Israel calls upon him to conduct an investigation free from political considerations and bias,” the statement said.
Israel regards Iran as its major security threat and has long been accusing the Islamic republic of secretly developing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran firmly denies. Iran stresses that its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes.