Latest news with #rafaelmgrossi
Middle East Eye
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
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".
The Hill
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Iran cuts off cooperation with nuclear watchdog
Iran's leaders said Friday they would no longer cooperate with the United Nation's watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the wake of U.S. and Israeli strikes. 'The Parliament of Iran has voted for a halt to collaboration with the IAEA until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed,' Foreign Minister Abbas Aragachi wrote in a post on X. '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,' Aragachi added, referring to IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. Aragachi also slammed Grossi for not condemning Israeli attacks after accusing the watchdog of passing information about the nation's nuclear developments to leaders in Jerusalem. '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,' Aragachi wrote. 'Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defense of its interests, its people, and its sovereignty,' he added. The IAEA earlier this week said Iran's nuclear facilities 'suffered enormous damage' from the U.S. airstrikes Saturday but refrained from using the term 'annihilated' to describe the destruction. The remarks came after leaders in Russia urged Tehran to continue cooperating with the independent agency. 'We are interested in Iran's cooperation with the IAEA continuing,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday, according to Reuters. 'We are interested in everyone respecting the supreme leader of Iran, who has repeatedly stated that Iran does not and will not have plans to create nuclear weapons.' Additionally, Aragachi on Thursday denied reports alleging Tehran would resume peace talks with the United States. 'Some speculations about the resumption of negotiations should not be taken seriously,' Araghchi said in remarks aired on state television. 'I would like to state clearly that no agreement, arrangement or conversation has been made to start new negotiations. No plan has been set yet to start negotiations.'
