HIBAPRESS – Follow-up
US President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday his assertion that the United States will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, stating that Tehran "will never possess" a nuclear weapon.
During a speech at the commemoration of the September 11th attacks, Trump described Iran as the "number one sponsor of terrorism around the world," stressing the United States' continued confrontation with terrorism.
The US President also stated that his country will not forget what happened during the September 11th attacks, adding that the United States continues to fight against terrorism in loyalty to the victims of the attacks.
Trump's statements came after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that it had detected construction and activity at Iran's "Mount Al-Fas" site, located south of the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, approximately 220 kilometers south of Tehran. This is a heavily fortified facility suspected of being linked to nuclear activities.
The Agency's Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, explained in an interview with "Bloomberg" on Thursday that agency inspectors have not yet been able to inspect the tunnel complex located inside the mountain, but satellite images have shown indications of new movements and construction at the site.
He also stated that the agency has detected "some indications of activity around the construction site," but at the same time emphasized that it does not possess confirmed information regarding the nature of the ongoing activities there.
Grossi's statements came after the Board of Governors of the IAEA referred the Iranian nuclear file to the UN Security Council for the first time in about 20 years, against the backdrop of Tehran's lack of cooperation with an ongoing investigation into uranium traces found by agency inspectors at undeclared sites.
"A severe blow"
US President Donald Trump had pointed to the activity at the Mount Al-Fas site in public statements last week, warning Iran against continuing what he described as concerning moves.
Trump said during a Republican Party rally on Wednesday that there was "a little activity" at the site, adding that he advised Iran "not to play around," warning that the United States "will have to hit them very hard" if they continued their activities.
Construction at the fortified site is believed to have begun after an Iranian facility for the production of centrifuges was subjected to a sabotage attack about six years ago. Grossi said that Iranian authorities announced at the time their intention to move some of their activities inside tunnels and mountains to protect them from attacks.
