BERLIN – After
The Jerusalem Post first reported Friday on the International
Atomic Energy Agency’s role in the delivery of illicit nuclear equipment to
Iran, the IAEA responded by saying the device was for a medical
project.
“We’ve issued a statement on this issue” on the IAEA website and
the “statement confirms that this was equipment for a cancer therapy project,”
an IAEA spokesman wrote the
Post by e-mail on Friday.
RELATED:Dutch deliver banned nuclear equipment to Iranian groupIran's nuclear chief acknowledges espionage at facilitiesWhen asked why the
IAEA ordered the equipment even though it is illegal under EU law to supply such
a device to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, the IAEA spokesman wrote: “Sorry,
can’t add more.
I would, however, caution against assuming that the
equipment is from the Netherlands, which is a major transportation
hub.”
The IAEA website’s Press Room responded to the Post report under
the headline “IAEA on news report on equipment purchase for Iran.”
The
Post obtained a copy of a letter written by Dutch Economic Affairs Minister
Maria van der Hoeven last week which stated: “That shipment contained a
helium-leak detector, which was ordered by the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) in line with its technical cooperation program with Iran, [but]
was shipped to a banned recipient (AEOI).”
The Atomic Energy Organization
oversees Iran’s nuclear proliferation program.
According to the IAEA
website statement, IAEA Press Officer Ayhan Evrensel wrote, “The IAEA has
ordered a helium- leak detector for a cancer-related project it is running in
Iran. This project is called ‘Production, Development and Application of
Radiation Sources and Radiopharmaceuticals for Radiotherapy and Targeted Cancer
Therapy.’” Evrensel added that “The objective of this technical cooperation
project (IRA/2/008) is to prepare therapeutic sources, radiocolloid particles
and radiopharmaceuticals for cancer treatment, and it was approved by the IAEA
Board of Governors in 2007.”
The Dutch authorities jump-started an
investigation to determine if the exporter of the helium-leak detector and
pressure meter equipment for Iran’s sanctioned gas and oil sector faces criminal
penalties.
An IAEA spokesman declined to comment on whether the
helium-leak detector has a military application, and whether the IAEA had asked
that Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization return the device to the IAEA’s Vienna-
based headquarters.