Iran blocks UN nuclear watchdog for refusing to condemn US strikes on nuclear sites
Iran appears to have blocked the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from visiting the country and carrying out inspections.
On Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country's parliament has "voted for a halt to collaboration with the IAEA until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed," and that this is "a direct result of @rafaelmgrossi's regrettable role in obfuscating the fact that the Agency - a full decade ago - already closed all past issues."
"Through this malign action, he directly facilitated the adoption of a politically-motivated resolution against Iran by the IAEA BoG as well as the unlawful Israeli and US bombings of Iranian nuclear sites," Araghchi wrote on X.
Grossi is the head of the IAEA. On Wednesday, he said much of Iran's highly enriched uranium survived the US and Israeli attacks because it was moved out of areas likely to be targeted. He intended to travel to Iran to inspect the state of the facilities.
"In an astounding betrayal of his duties, @rafaelmgrossi has additionally failed to explicitly condemn such blatant violations of IAEA safeguards and its Statute," Araghchi said.
"The IAEA and its Director-General are fully responsible for this sordid state of affairs. @rafaelmgrossi's insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent. Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defense of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
24 minutes ago
- Al Etihad
Iran holds state funeral for slain leaders
28 June 2025 11:29 TEHRAN (AFP)Iran began a state funeral service Saturday in Tehran for around 60 people, including military commanders killed in its conflict with proceedings started at 8:00am local time (0430 GMT) in the capital Tehran, with government offices and many businesses closed on Saturday for the occasion."The ceremony to honour the martyrs has officially started," state TV said, showing footage of thousands waving Iranian flags and holding pictures of the slain military President Masoud Pezeshkian, along with other senior government officials and military commanders also attended the the 60 people who are to be laid to rest after the ceremony, four are children and four are women. The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli figures.
Sharjah 24
an hour ago
- Sharjah 24
Radiation levels in Gulf region remain normal: IAEA
Citing regional data reported regularly to the IAEA through the International Radiation Monitoring System (IRMIS), Director General Grossi noted that this 48-nation network would have detected an important radioactive release from any damaged nuclear power reactor. 'From a nuclear safety perspective, Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the Tehran Research Reactor represented our main concern as any strike affecting those facilities – including their off-site power lines – could have caused a radiological accident with potential consequences in Iran as well as beyond its borders in the case of the Bushehr plant. It did not happen, and the worst nuclear safety scenario was thereby avoided,' Director General Grossi said. Stressing again that nuclear facilities should never be attacked, he reiterated the IAEA's current assessment – based on information received from Iran's Nuclear Regulatory Authority – that this month's Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites would have caused localised radioactive releases inside the impacted facilities and localised toxic effects, but there has been no report of increased off-site radiation levels. The Director General also emphasised the need for IAEA inspectors to continue their verification activities in Iran, as required under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) with the Agency.
Sharjah 24
an hour ago
- Sharjah 24
Trump hopeful for Gaza ceasefire, possibly 'next week'
Asked by reporters how close a ceasefire was between Israel and Hamas, Trump said: "We think within the next week, we're going to get a ceasefire." The United States brokered a ceasefire in the devastating conflict in the waning days of former president Joe Biden's administration, with support from Trump's incoming team. Israel broke the ceasefire in March, launching new devastating attacks on Hamas, which attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel also stopped all food and other supplies from entering Gaza for more than two months, drawing warnings of famine. Israel has since allowed a resumption of food through the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which involves US security contractors with Israeli troops at the periphery. United Nations officials on Friday said the GHF system was leading to mass killings of people seeking aid, drawing accusations from Israel that the UN was "aligning itself with Hamas."
