Iran IAEA envoy says commitment to NPT contingent upon developments

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
Today 14:34

Russia calls an emergency IAEA session after Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, as Grossi warns that military escalation endangers global non-proliferation efforts.

Listen

A man looks at flames rising from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, June 15, 2025 (AP)

Iran’s representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Al Mayadeen that Tehran’s continued commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is contingent upon how events unfold in the wake of Israeli strikes.

“Israel bears full responsibility for any step toward withdrawing from the NPT,” the Iranian delegate said.

Speaking to journalists following the emergency session of the IAEA Board of Governors, the representative warned the agency against repeating its earlier inaction. “I urge the Board not to let its preliminary failure to prevent this aggression be followed by another,” he stated.

He called on the board to take “strong and effective action,” urging it to “condemn this act of aggression in the strongest possible terms, and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

"Failing to do so would amount to appeasement of an aggressive regime, one that is, in fact, committing genocide and deludes itself into thinking Iran is incapable of defending itself," Iran's IAEA representative asserted.

The Iranian envoy further stressed that "Israel" deliberately struck civilian infrastructure, saying it “targeted residential areas, hospitals, and schools, resulting in the martyrdom of over 200 civilians, most of whom were innocent women and children, and injuring more than 1,000 others.”

“Iran has responded with full force,” he said, affirming that the country is exercising its “inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.” He concluded firmly, “The era of striking without consequences is over.”

Isfahan facility hit in Israeli strike, four buildings damaged

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed Monday that there has been no additional damage to key Iranian nuclear sites, including Natanz and Fordow, following the latest wave of Israeli aggression.

Addressing the IAEA Board of Governors, Grossi stated, “The Agency is and will remain present in Iran” and emphasized that safeguards inspections would resume once safety conditions allow. “This is required under Iran’s NPT safeguards obligations,” he noted.

While confirming the safety of the Natanz and Fordow enrichment facilities, Grossi stressed the importance of continued oversight and reassured that inspector safety remains the agency’s top priority.

The IAEA chief reported that four buildings at the Isfahan nuclear complex were hit during Friday’s Israeli assault. These included the central chemical laboratory, a uranium conversion facility, the Tehran reactor fuel manufacturing plant, and the UF4 to EU metal processing unit.

He added that the Fordow enrichment site and the Khondab heavy water reactor, still under construction, sustained no damage.

In his remarks, Grossi warned that military escalation “delays indispensable work towards a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon.” He emphasized the need for restraint, highlighting that continued cooperation with Iranian authorities remains intact despite the attacks.

Iran rejects IAEA bias, Parliament supports strong response

Earlier this morning, the Iranian Parliament formally added a proposal for "decisive action" regarding the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to its official agenda, according to Rouhollah Motafakkerazad, a member of the Parliament’s Presidium.

Motafakkerazad stated that the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has initiated correspondence with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to assess the nature of its current engagement with the IAEA.

He further affirmed that Parliament is prepared to provide all necessary legal frameworks to ensure that the country’s armed forces can act freely in defending national sovereignty.

Furthermore, Motafakkerazad emphasized that Parliament is committed to supporting the armed forces through legal instruments, signaling a broader move toward reinforcing national defense policy amid growing scrutiny from international bodies.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a senior member of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, voiced sharp criticism of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. He accused Grossi of overstepping the agency’s technical mandate, stressing that his recent report to the IAEA Board of Governors was politically motivated.

Boroujerdi described the report as “malicious and unprofessional,” asserting that it undermines the IAEA’s supposed neutrality and professional standards.

These developments follow recent remarks from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which declared that the IAEA has lost its credibility as an impartial global institution. The statement comes amid rising tensions between Iran and the agency over its assessments of Iran’s nuclear activities and its failure to condemn the Israeli aggression against Iran, particularly the attacks targeting its nuclear facilities.

It is worth noting that Iranian media outlets have recently published a series of documents that reveal covert coordination between IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and "Israel", a collaboration Iranian officials say was designed to politicize the agency’s oversight of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

Wider context

At Russia’s request, the IAEA Board of Governors held an emergency session Monday to discuss the Israeli strikes, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported. Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, announced the meeting, which focused on “the technical aspects and consequences” of the assault on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Iran’s state-run IRNA confirmed that the extraordinary session, held at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, sought to evaluate the broader impact of Israeli military aggression on the agency’s technical mission in Iran.

This comes amid heightened tensions following Iranian retaliatory missile strikes on strategic sites in occupied territories amid the ongoing Israeli aggression and renewed threats from Western powers over Iran's nuclear capabilities.

Despite international scrutiny, Iran maintains that its nuclear program is fully in line with its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is solely intended for civilian purposes.