Persian diplomat Baghaei emphasized that IAEA reports were used as a pretext for Israel’s offensive against Iran.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister spokesperson Ismail Baghaei urged Rafael Grossi, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to carry out his technical duties without political influence.

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During a press conference, the Iranian diplomat emphasized that IAEA reports were used as a pretext for Israel’s offensive against Iran, which began on June 13, followed by U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

Baghaei specifically criticized Grossi for failing to condemn these attacks, which he said clearly violate international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The lack of explicit condemnation of the attacks on Iran was a key factor in the Iranian Guardian Council’s June 26 decision to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, barring the U.N. agency from entering Iranian territory and expelling all its inspectors.

Baghaei also called on the United Nations Security Council to act against the U.S. and Israel, accusing the latter of committing war crimes. He claimed Iran’s neighboring countries refused to allow their territories to be used for the Israeli offensive.

Separately, during a Monday phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Grossi of bias and defended Iran’s decision to halt cooperation with the IAEA. The Iranian leader criticized the agency for producing “inaccurate reports” on Iran’s nuclear program, which enabled military aggression against Iran and resulted in “the martyrdom of a number of our compatriots, scientists and military commanders.”

Last week, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also accused the IAEA of acting as “a political instrument” and blamed the agency for escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, according to a report by Rudaw.

On Sunday, Grossi stated that Iran could resume uranium enrichment, contradicting the assessment made by the U.S. after its bombing of three nuclear facilities. “The capabilities they have are there. They could have, in a matter of months, several cascades of centrifuges producing enriched uranium, or even less. Frankly, you can’t say that everything is gone and that nothing remains,” he said.

teleSUR/ JF

Sources: EFE – Rudaw

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