Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday described Iran's two-decade-long operation of systematic deception against the International Atomic Energy Agency as a "wake-up call" for the world.
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"Iran's deception, which was plotted on the basis of documents stolen from the IAEA, is a wake-up call for us all. This is further proof that Iran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons," he said.
The Israeli premier was referring to a Wall Street Journal report earlier Wednesday that Iran had gained access to confidential IAEA reports and for two decades used them to mislead the organization and conceal suspected work on nuclear weapons.
The documents, which featured handwritten notes in Persian, were among the files seized by Israeli intelligence in January 2018 from a Tehran archive, the paper said.
"[Iran's] systematic policy of cheating, stealing, and concealing evidence against the IAEA became a matter of undisputed fact today [Wednesday] in front of the entire international community. Aside from the fraud, the documents provide evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear activity, which raises new issues requiring investigation," Bennett continued.
"The IAEA is a professional body that functions as the international 'gatekeeper' in the field of nuclear weaponry. I congratulate IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi's for insisting on keeping the [Iran nuclear] files open to this day – which was certainly the right call. In light of everything [that has come to light], the time has come for the IAEA's Board of Governors to issue a clear message to Iran – 'it stops now,'" added Bennett.
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