IAEA chief warns of proliferation if Iran obtains nuclear weapons

The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, warned on Monday of a wave of nuclear proliferation if Iran acquires nuclear weapons.

“Many countries have said that if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, they will do the same. I think we heard that very clearly from many countries,” Grossi said on the sidelines of a IAEA conference in Vienna.

“We must avoid further erosion of the non-proliferation regime. This is very important, and I think my Iranian counterparts know this. I think adding nuclear weapons to the Middle East cauldron is a very bad idea,” he added. he said.

Grossi called for cooperation with Iran to try to prevent this. He called on Iran to be more transparent about its nuclear program and noted that Saudi Arabia had indicated it would respond accordingly to an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Although official Iranian policy does not provide for the acquisition of nuclear weapons, several officials have recently expressed concerns about a possible change in this doctrine and about Iran's capabilities in building nuclear weapons.

Grossi has repeatedly emphasized that Iran is enriching uranium to a level close to that of weapons manufacturing.

Germany, France and the United Kingdom have been working on a possible resolution to be submitted this week to the IAEA board of governors, which would respond to Tehran's lack of cooperation with IAEA inspectors .

Iran has denied access to experienced inspectors and is not providing information about formerly secret nuclear plants where traces of nuclear materials have been found.