Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Iran has shut down its only nuclear energy facility amid
reports of damage in recent earthquakes.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran closed its 1,000
megawatt nuclear energy plant at Bushehr in early 2013. The agency said
Iran reported the shutdown of Bushehr in IAEA inspections in February and
May.

“Maintaining safety is the responsibility of Iran and we don’t know the
reason why Bushehr is shut down,” IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano said.

In a news conference on June 3, Amano did not confirm reports that
Bushehr was shut down because of a series of earthquakes in southern Iran.
But Western diplomats said the agency believed that at least one of the
earthquakes damaged the $1 billion Bushehr facility, which went on line in
2012.

So far, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have urged IAEA to
determine the damage to Bushehr from the earthquakes. The two countries
raised concerns that radiation might have leaked from Bushehr and blown over the Gulf.

Both Iran and Russia have denied that Bushehr was damaged in the
earthquakes, the last of which was reported on June 4. Russia’s state-owned
Rosatom was overseeing the maintenance of the nuclear energy facility.

“Unit 1 of the Bushehr nuclear power plant which is now operational has
remained fully unaffected in Tuesday’s [June 4] Bushehr earthquake and the
former earthquakes in the region,” Rosatom said on June 6. “The published
news in some media about the damages in a part of Unit 1 of the Bushehr
plant due to the earthquake is quite baseless and a sheer lie.”

For his part, Amano acknowledged that Iran was not cooperating with
IAEA. He said the agency, denied access to several key facilities, suspected
that Iran was secretly conducting military nuclear projects.

“First and foremost, Iran has to address the agency’s requirement to
conduct effective verification,” Amano told the 35-nation board on June 3.
“Unless Iran does so, it will not be possible for the agency to resolve
outstanding issues, including those relating to possible military dimensions
to Iran’s nuclear program.”

  Iran has shut down Bushehr nuclear twice this year after earthquakes, Rosatom, Yukiya Amano