IAEA chief Rafael Grossis statement refutes claims made by Israel and US President Donald Trump

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found no evidence that Iran is making a "systematic effort" to produce a nuclear weapon, according to the agency's chief, Rafael Grossi.

Israel began bombing Iran on Friday, asserting that the country was on the brink of developing a nuclear bomb. The sides have been exchanging retaliatory strikes ever since.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he believes Tehran was "very close" to obtaining the nuclear weapon, contradicting early statements from his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who stated that Iran "is not building" one. Iranian authorities insist that their nuclear program is purely peaceful and that they have every right to pursue it.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, Grossi said that, currently, "there is this competition about who is wrong or right about the time that would be needed" for Iran to produce a nuclear bomb.

"Certainly, it was not for tomorrow, maybe not a matter of years," he noted.

The Iranians may have enough enriched uranium, but in order to turn it into a nuclear weapon, technology and extensive testing is also required, the IAEA chief explained.

Despite inspecting Iran's nuclear sites for more than two decades, the UN watchdog "did not have... any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon" on the part of Iran, he said.

"What we are telling you is what we have been able to prove. The material is there. There have been, in the past, some activities related to the development of nuclear weapons, but we did not have, at this point, these elements," Grossi stressed.

A day before Israel's initial attack on Iran, the IAEA passed a resolution declaring that Tehran was not complying with its obligations concerning nuclear non-proliferation. Among other things, the agency noted that Iran had "repeatedly" been unable to prove that its nuclear material was not being diverted for further enrichment for military use.

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Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said last weekend that Tehran will limit its cooperation with IAEA due to the agency's reluctance to condemn Israel's attacks on the country's nuclear sites. The UN watchdog's conduct "makes no sense," he stated.

(RT.com)