WANA (Jun 06) – Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, has criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over its latest report on Iran’s nuclear program, arguing that the agency cannot ignore the impact of military attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities while expecting Tehran to bear the political and technical costs resulting from those attacks.

 

Gharibabadi said in a post on X on Saturday that the current issues regarding inspector access and the alleged ambiguities surrounding Iran’s nuclear activities are a direct consequence of military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel against Iranian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.

 

He criticized IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi for failing to condemn those attacks, stating that the source of the disruption cannot be ignored while its consequences are subsequently used against Iran.

 

Gharibabadi stressed that the first expectation from the IAEA chief should be a clear legal and principled position regarding attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities. Such actions, he said, constitute not only a violation of Iran’s sovereignty but also a direct blow to nuclear safety, the safeguards system, and the credibility of the global non-proliferation regime.

 

The deputy foreign minister also described the repeated focus on Iran’s 60-percent uranium enrichment and speculation about potential weapons-related activities as a political rather than technical approach. He emphasized that the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) does not set a specific limit on enrichment levels and that the key legal criterion is whether nuclear materials and activities are diverted toward military purposes.

 

He further argued that the IAEA cannot simultaneously report the consequences of military attacks, overlook the responsibility of those who carried them out, and then hold Iran accountable for the resulting uncertainty and security challenges. According to Gharibabadi, such an approach neither serves verification efforts nor contributes to confidence-building.

 

Gharibabadi also stated that if the IAEA seeks to be part of a diplomatic solution, it should refrain from turning technical reports into instruments of political pressure. He added that the safeguards system is strengthened through impartiality, respect for international law, respect for national sovereignty, and the clear condemnation of attacks on facilities monitored by the agency.

 

His remarks came after Grossi told the IAEA Board of Governors in his latest report that, with the exception of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, the agency had not been granted access to Iran’s nuclear facilities and related locations. As a result, he said, the IAEA has been unable to fully carry out its safeguards responsibilities or verify the status of Iran’s declared nuclear materials and facilities.