Amid conflicting reports about a presentation by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions, the White House said on Monday it is consistent with what the United States has long known in that Iran currently has a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
Netanyahu’s presentation was based on a trove of documents about Iran’s nuclear development program obtained by Israeli intelligence. He alleged that the documents prove that Iran does not intend to adhere to the nuclear deal brokered between the international community and Iran in 2015.
However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) countered that the presentation included information about Iran’s ambitions to develop a nuclear explosive that dates back to 2003. Ultimately, the Board of Governors investigated the matter in 2005 and considered it “closed” in 2009.
“The agency’s overall assessment was that a range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device were conducted in Iran prior to the end of 2003 as a coordinated effort, and some activities took place after 2003,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said. “The agency also assessed that these activities did not advance beyond feasibility and scientific studies, and the acquisition of certain relevant technical competences and capabilities.”
A statement released by the White House on Monday, however, states that “this information provides new and compelling details about Iran’s efforts to develop missile-deliverable weapons.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) also argued that Netanyahu’s presentation demonstrated that the nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration and international partners “was predicated on that edifice of lies,” and that Iran is in violation of terms of the deal today.
“In light of these astonishing Israeli revelations, the course before President Trump is clear,” Cruz said. “As the president has said repeatedly, this deal is a ‘terrible deal,’ even worse than many previously realized. The United States should, therefore, withdraw immediately, re-impose crushing sanctions, work to encourage our allies to do the same, and do everything necessary to insure that the Ayatollah Khamenei never — never — acquires the nuclear weapons to make good on his pledge of ‘death to America.’”