WANA (Oct 04) – Iran’s permanent mission to international organizations in Vienna has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Iran had been producing drugs at its nuclear facilities, describing it as another big lie following what it called the earlier false claim about Iran’s nuclear weapons.

 

In a message posted in English on X on Sunday, the Iranian mission said Iran’s nuclear facilities had been under round-the-clock monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adding that the agency could and should expose what it described as the latest false claims concerning Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities.

 

Trump made the claim last Thursday during a campaign rally in Durant, Oklahoma, where he said that part of his motivation for launching the war against Iran had been that Iran was producing drugs at its nuclear facilities.

 

Trump said Iran had been carrying out both nuclear activities and drug production at its facilities, adding that the nuclear and what he described as drug-manufacturing facilities had been targeted.

 

Responding to the remarks, Iran’s mission in Vienna said that after what it described as the big lie about Iran’s nuclear weapons, another big lie had emerged concerning drugs, adding that a liar should have a good memory.

 

The mission also pointed to Iran’s role in combating the global drug problem, saying this could easily be verified by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

 

It stressed that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been continuously monitored by the IAEA around the clock and said the agency could and should expose the recent claims concerning facilities operating under its safeguards.

 

The Iranian mission further said that creating justifications appeared easier than acknowledging what it described as the reality that aggression, bombing and looting of other nations were carried out for domination rather than for democracy, non-proliferation or, as it had recently been claimed, combating illegal drugs.

 

Stories may change, but facts remain, the mission said, calling for an end to what it described as the fabrication of justifications. It also called on those responsible to openly state that they had sought to take control of Iran’s strategic resources, including its oil and gas, as well as its independence.

 

The Iranian response came as the IAEA had been monitoring Iran’s nuclear facilities under its safeguards arrangements before the start of U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran. Iran has also long been considered a frontline country in combating drug trafficking originating from Afghanistan.

 

The IAEA has not publicly reported the production of illegal drugs at Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities. The agency’s lack of a public response to Trump’s latest allegation has also drawn attention.