IAEA alarmed

Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear facilities

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has expressed great concern that Israel could attack Iran's nuclear facilities in retaliation.

"We are always concerned about this possibility," said Rafael Grossi on Monday in New York in response to a reporter's question. Grossi called for "extreme restraint". Iran had closed its nuclear facilities on Sunday for "security reasons", Grossi added.

Although the facilities had been reopened on Monday, he had kept the IAEA inspectors away until it could be seen that the situation was completely calm. "We will start again tomorrow," Grossi emphasized with a view to Tuesday. "This had no impact on our inspection activities."

Reaction to Iran attack planned
The IAEA regularly inspects the most important Iranian nuclear facilities, including the uranium enrichment plant in Natan, which is at the heart of Iran's nuclear program. According to its own statements, Iran only uses its nuclear program for peaceful purposes. Western states accuse the country of striving for nuclear weapons.

Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi said on Monday that his country would respond to Iran's attack at the weekend, but gave no details. Iran said it had retaliated for the shelling of the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, which was attributed to Israel and left several dead, including two brigadier generals.