The head of Iran’s Atomic Agency says it has fed false intelligence to British spies about Iran’s nuclear advances in order to protect Iran’s nuclear sites.
Haaretz reports that Fereydoon Abbasi said in an interview with Al-Hayat on Thursday, September 20, that Western intelligence services, and the British in particular, have been gathering information about Iran’s nuclear program, including details about Iran’s nuclear scientists, whom Iran alleges were killed by Israeli agents.
“We presented false information sometimes in order to protect our nuclear position and our achievements, as there is no other choice but to mislead foreign intelligence,” he said. Abbasi was also quoted as saying that “sometimes we present a weakness that we do not in fact really have, and sometimes we appear to have power without having it,” Abbasi reportedly said.
He added that these issues were clarified when members of the International Atomic Energy Agency inquired about them.
Abbasi accused the IAEA of taking a hostile approach toward Iran and acting as if Iran is guilty and must prove its innocence.
“This is the same tactic used against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and now they are trying to find a legal way to isolate Iran and impose more severe sanctions,” Abbasi claimed.
He denied that Iran has barred IAEA inspectors from visiting its nuclear sites and said: “Each time they asked to visit the sites, we approved it within two hours, but we will not allow them to enter other sites which they claim are nuclear sites. These sites, such as Parchin, are for military operations and have been there for more than 90 years. In these sites we produce military weapons for defence against aerial attacks.”
He went on to say that Iran has made arrangements that these sites are safe from satellite monitoring, and the demand for the Western insistence on having IAEA inspectors visit these sites could be a way of trying to get sensitive information about Iran's military capabilities through these inspections.
Abbasi has already accused the IAEA of allowing the information it receives about Iran’s nuclear program be exploited by saboteurs.
He stressed once more that Iran’s nuclear program is only targeted toward producing fuel for its reactors and aiding medical research.
