In Vienna on Monday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) acknowledged the claim made by Iran regarding its capture of information related to Israel’s nuclear program. He indicated that the information likely pertains to the Soreq Nuclear Research Center. This statement marked the first recognition outside of Tehran about the alleged data breach.
Israel’s prime minister’s office did not immediately comment on the remarks made by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi during a press conference. This development coincides with rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear activities, which involve uranium enrichment approaching weapons-grade levels and Iran’s apparent intention to reject a U.S. proposal concerning its atomic program.
Grossi informed reporters that no official communication had been made regarding the matter, although there were media reports. He mentioned that the reports appeared to concern Soreq, a research facility subject to IAEA inspections, unlike other strategic components of Israel’s nuclear program. Grossi did not specify the source of his information, but the IAEA offers a confidential mechanism for countries to report security events related to their nuclear operations.
Located roughly 20 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, Soreq is Israel’s national laboratory for nuclear science, established in 1958, focusing on nuclear science, radiation safety, and applied physics. The IAEA has agreements for specific item safeguards with nations like Israel, Pakistan, and India, which are not part of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Under the agreement with Israel, the IAEA oversees Soreq but does not oversee the Dimona facility, understood to be involved in Israel’s undisclosed nuclear weapons program.
Recently, Iranian state television and its intelligence minister publicly asserted, though without evidence, that Iran had captured a significant collection of information about Israel’s nuclear operations. Israel, known to have an undisclosed atomic arsenal, hasn’t confirmed any Iranian activity aimed at it despite recent arrests of Israelis allegedly spying for Tehran during the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib stated they had obtained thousands of documents, including sensitive international information from the U.S., Europe, and other nations, obtained through infiltration. However, details on the methods used were not disclosed. Previously, in 2022, Khatib was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for his involvement in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks supporting Iran’s political interests.
For Iran, this claim may serve as a counter-response to Israel’s daring mission in 2018 to acquire an extensive cache of files detailing Iran’s nuclear intentions, which was publicly exploited by Israeli officials. This episode occurred just before the U.S., under President Donald Trump, withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which had significantly limited Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.
In the current week, Western countries are likely to address Iran’s noncompliance with the IAEA at a Board of Governors session, potentially escalating the issue to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in several decades. Such a move may trigger the reinstatement of U.N. sanctions on Iran by one of the Western nations involved in the 2015 deal. This authority will expire in October, putting pressure on Western powers to act against Tehran’s nuclear advancement before losing the ability to reinstate sanctions through the “snapback” mechanism.