The Iranian Tasnim News Agency published a report Wednesday quoting unnamed official sources suspecting Israel and the United States had assasinated Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency who died last week.
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According to the report, Amano was assassinated because he would not give in to pressure calling him to slander the Iranian nuclear plan; "sources told Tasnim that Amano was taken out by the Israeli regime so that IAEA would have a new chair," said the report.
"The late IAEA chair faced pressures from the U.S. and Israel to launch a false investigation against Iran's nuclear affairs," according to the report. "There is evidence that the Trump administration and Israel pressured Amano relentlessly to accuse Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear treaty, against all technical and legal reports by IAEA, that confirm Iran's compliance with the deal."
"Sources also said that the U.S. and Israel stopped reports of Amano's death for two days until after his funeral," Tasnim wrote.
Amano died at age 72 after recent reported he was suffereing from ill health. In the statement informing of his death no cause was mentioned, but his health was reported to be the reason for his resignation planned for no later than next March.
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The late Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(צילום: EPA)
Amano was elected head of the IAEA first in 2009 and was twice more since; his term was supposed to end in November 2021.
According to Bloomberg reports, Amano missed an important board meeting last week for the second time in less than a year due to health reasons.