Under the title "The Harassment Scandal Involving IAEA Inspectors: Iran Justifies," the Al Arabiya website reported that the scandal involving harassment of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to cast a shadow over the Iranian scene. After testimonies emerged confirming that inspectors faced unusual inspections, Iran's representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi, justified the situation by stating that it is due to new inspection procedures imposed by authorities after several suspicious attacks on nuclear facilities.
He stated, as reported by the Fars news agency on Wednesday evening, "We have faced several terrorist and sabotaging operations at nuclear facilities, which is why we changed our policies for protecting our nuclear facilities several months ago." He added, "These new protection policies and procedures included how IAEA inspectors are to be inspected. No physical violations occurred."
Gharibabadi also confirmed that his country had informed the agency about these serious policies, which he said are "still under development and improvement." He continued, saying, "At the same time, we have requested the IAEA to advise inspectors to fully cooperate with the security guards of the nuclear facilities due to the sensitivity resulting from the history of sabotage." He added, "They may have considered that security personnel were physically harming them, but this is not true, and no one intends any harm or physical violation, and everything happening is to ensure the security of our nuclear facilities."
This Iranian comment came after the Wall Street Journal reported, citing diplomatic sources, that Iranian security guards "harassed" IAEA inspectors in recent months. A diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that Iranian guards at the Natanz facility inappropriately touched female inspectors and ordered them to remove their clothing, adding that "at least four incidents of physical harassment occurred" in recent months.
