IAEA inspectors cannot return to Iran amid US threats: Russia
Press TV – September 24, 2026
Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna says the return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to Iran is not possible amid continued US threats against the country.
Mikhail Ulyanov said the United States has never provided guarantees that it will halt missile attacks on Iranian territory. “On the contrary, they are practically issuing threats every day, and sometimes several times a day,” Ulyanov said, according to RIA Novosti.
“In such circumstances, what meaning can there be in talking about the presence of IAEA inspectors?” he added.
Ulyanov’s remarks come against the backdrop of a fundamental security problem surrounding the resumption of inspections. In June, Israeli and US strikes targeted Iranian nuclear facilities that had been under IAEA safeguards.
The US and Israel attacked Iran while nuclear negotiations were underway, using the talks as a cover for aggression under the illusion that the attack would eliminate Iran’s nuclear program and eventually topple the Islamic Republic.
The bombing has killed the bilateral framework for cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, which has so far refused to condemn the aggression, thus failing in its commitment and now demanding Iran to go out of its way and cooperate with aggressors—amounting to awarding the aggressors.
The attacks forced the Agency to halt its field verification activities and withdraw its inspectors from Iran for safety reasons. The IAEA itself reported that its inspectors had been withdrawn from the country by the end of June because of the security situation.
That history provides an important context for Tehran’s refusal to immediately restore unrestricted access. Iran is being asked to facilitate the return of international inspectors while the military threat that forced their withdrawal has not been conclusively removed.
From Tehran’s perspective, the question is therefore not simply whether inspectors should have access, but whether the conditions exist for them to operate safely and independently without their presence becoming entangled in an active military confrontation.
The IAEA has also acknowledged the exceptional circumstances created by the attacks. In its reporting, the Agency stated that attacks against nuclear facilities can have serious consequences for nuclear safety, security, safeguards and international peace and security, and recalled that nuclear facilities must not be attacked because of the risks to people and the environment.
This is particularly significant because the facilities targeted in the strikes were not outside the safeguards system. Russia has argued that the affected Iranian sites had been subject to regular Agency monitoring before the attacks.
In a 2025 statement, Ulyanov said the facilities at Fordow, Natanz, Isfahan and Arak had been regularly inspected and that the strikes damaged both nuclear infrastructure and IAEA equipment.
The attacks therefore created a difficult contradiction for the international verification system: facilities under international monitoring were struck militarily, inspectors were subsequently withdrawn for security reasons, and Iran then faced intensified demands to restore access under conditions in which it continues to regard itself as exposed to further attack.
The Agency has reported unresolved questions concerning uranium particles and has said that it requires further information from Iran before it can provide broader assurances about the exclusively peaceful nature of the country’s nuclear program.
At the same time, the current dispute cannot be separated from the security environment in which verification is being demanded. A sustainable inspection arrangement would require more than simply instructing Iran to open its facilities.
It would require credible security arrangements for inspectors, protection for safeguarded nuclear installations, and a mechanism that prevents inspections from becoming a source of additional military or political escalation.
Tehran’s position is that inspectors should not simply return under the same conditions that existed before the attacks. There are several concrete reasons for that position.
First, the safety of inspectors has become a direct issue. The IAEA withdrew its personnel because of the security situation after the attacks.
Without credible assurances that inspectors and their equipment will be protected from further military action, Iran can argue that an immediate return would expose Agency personnel to risks that are beyond the Agency’s ability to control.
Second, Iran’s nuclear facilities have themselves become potential military targets. The IAEA has repeatedly stressed the dangers of attacking nuclear installations.
Allowing inspectors to return without addressing the possibility of renewed strikes would leave them operating in an environment where the facilities they are monitoring could again come under attack.
Third, the previous monitoring framework was disrupted by military action rather than simply by a disagreement over access. The IAEA’s own records state that verification activities stopped following the attacks and that Iran subsequently enacted legislation suspending cooperation with the Agency.
Fourth, the dispute now involves a question of reciprocity and confidence. Iran maintains that it cannot be expected to provide extensive access while simultaneously facing threats of additional military action.
The dispute has intensified following a September resolution by the IAEA Board of Governors reporting Iran’s case to the United Nations Security Council.
Iran has rejected the move as politically motivated and has stressed that the military strikes and subsequent diplomatic pressure have fundamentally changed the circumstances surrounding the nuclear dispute.
Russia and China have opposed efforts to escalate the matter through the Security Council.
At the same time, Iranian officials have warned that continued military and political pressure could lead Tehran to reconsider its position within the nuclear non-proliferation framework.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Iran’s recent experience could encourage other countries to reconsider participation in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Austria bars Iran nuclear chief from IAEA summit due to US pressure
The Cradle | September 14, 2026
Iran’s top nuclear official has been blocked from addressing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) general conference in Vienna after pressure from Washington, Bloomberg reported on 14 September, citing a US official.
Iran’s vice president for nuclear affairs, Mohammad Eslami, left Tehran on Saturday and was slated to address the UN nuclear watchdog as part of its 70th General Conference, which began on Monday.
However, Austria denied Eslami entry at the request of the Trump administration, an anonymous US official told Bloomberg.
A spokeswoman for the Austrian government referred questions over the issue to the Foreign Ministry, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“His attendance and early speaking slot could have been seen as lending credibility to Iran,” Bloomberg wrote.
Meanwhile, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright will be given a platform to speak at the conference. He plans to promote US claims that Iran is seeking to build a nuclear weapon.
While the US has attacked Iranian nuclear facilities, it has never produced evidence that Tehran is developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran has long said its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes and has allowed the IAEA to monitor its activities.
Wright’s planned speech follows a claim from the IAEA that the agency observed nuclear related construction activity at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain.
President Trump claimed last Wednesday that there was “a little activity at Pickaxe” and warned Iran “not to get cute, because we will have to hit them very hard.”
In response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the IAEA and US claims of construction at the site are “part of Washington’s psychological warfare.”
They speak as if a secret and confidential case has been discovered while, in fact, “we are facing fuss for nothing,” Baghaei stated.
Iran submitted a formal request to the IAEA Secretariat to discuss at the conference the topic of “prohibiting all forms of attacks and threats of attack against nuclear sites and facilities that are under Agency safeguards and dedicated to peaceful purposes.”
US influence over the IAEA was apparent last week, when the UN agency referred Iran to the UN Security Council (UNSC) for “non-compliance” with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) treaty.
The board of governors of the UN nuclear watchdog passed a resolution at a meeting in Vienna claiming a lack of information on Iran’s nuclear material and the lack of access to nuclear facilities for IAEA inspectors.
The IAEA resolution was tabled by the UK, France, Germany and the US and called for IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to report Iran to the Security Council.
Representatives of 23 countries on the IAEA board of governors voted to approve the measure, while eight abstained. China, Russia and Niger voted against it.
The US and its European allies will likely use the decision to impose new sanctions on Iran through the Security Council.
However, Russia and China could block such efforts with their vetoes.
Tehran condemned the IAEA decision, saying that US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities had disrupted nuclear inspections.
“They attack Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities, disrupt the normal process of verification, and then use that very disruption as a pretext to issue a resolution,” Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote in a post on X.
The US and Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities during their unprovoked 12-day war on the Islamic Republic in June 2025.
Washington and Tel Aviv renewed their aggression against Tehran during 40 days of intense strikes in February of this year.
Iran has good reason to bar IAEA inspectors from returning amid US aggression: Author
Press TV | September 12, 2026
Iran’s refusal to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into the country amid ongoing US aggression is understandable, says a US-based author and activist, urging the UN nuclear watchdog to inspect Israeli nuclear facilities as well.
Speaking to the Press TV website, Anthony Donovan, a war veteran and political campaigner, said he supports Iran’s decision not to allow IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and his team into the country while Iran remains under attack by the United States, Western countries and their allies.
“IAEA will be welcome when the threats cease. Perfect good sense. You have good reason to not trust Grossi and the US pushing for this absurd resolution in the UNSC,” Donovan said.
He added that the nuclear watchdog should instead be demanding an end to the attacks and warning about the dangers posed by military action against nuclear facilities.
“The IAEA needs to immediately and strongly demand an end to these bombings and aggressions, express the outrage at the danger this can pose,” Donovan said.
His comments came after the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a politically motivated resolution drafted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany calling on Grossi to report Iran to the UN Security Council and General Assembly.
The resolution was adopted with 23 votes in favor on Wednesday, while Russia, China and Niger voted against it and eight countries abstained. The move marked the first time in 20 years that Iran had been referred to the Security Council over its nuclear obligations.
Iran’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Reza Najafi, dismissed the resolution as a “political tool” and said Tehran would cooperate with inspectors only “to the extent that circumstances and safety permit.”
It comes as the IAEA has been unable to access some Iranian nuclear facilities since a US-Israeli military aggression in June 2025 that included strikes on safeguarded nuclear sites. Access remained blocked after a broader aggression was unleashed against Iran on Feb. 28.
For Donovan, the circumstances surrounding the latest pressure on Iran made renewed inspections particularly problematic.
He said the West has remained heavily “obsessed” with Iran’s nuclear program even though “it has been inspected more than any other country.” He also warned against repeating the use of the unfounded nuclear weapons programs as a pretext for military action, citing the experience of Iraq.
“The echo of using the nuclear program as we did in Iraq is before us again, an excuse to bomb and kill, to violate all known international law, humanitarian law, and our own laws,” he said.
Donovan said inspections could resume once hostilities end and trust between Iran and the international community is restored, while noting that any future inspection regime should also address Israel’s clandestine nuclear facilities.
“When there is a true lasting peace, which seems very far away, and when there is mutual trust renewed, which is very far away, Iran remains naturally open to allow inspections, along with a requirement of full inspection of Israel’s nuclear weapons facility,” he said.
Israel’s nuclear program
Donovan pointed to a double standard in international nuclear oversight, noting that Israel should face the same scrutiny demanded of Iran.
He said President John F. Kennedy had “tried to prevent” the Israeli regime’s ability to gain access to nuclear weapons.
“Israel lied to him, built a mock facility hoping to fool him. He intuited that and gave several strong ultimatums to [then-prime minister David] Ben Gurion and his government to allow full inspection by his team and warned of serious repercussions if this was not allowed,” said Donovan.
Kennedy, he added, “was adamant they not get the bomb and was killed within months of these demands.”
He also linked the issue to Kennedy’s broader efforts to reduce the dangers of nuclear weapons during the Cold War, including his back-channel communications with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the 1963 Atmospheric Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
“The Test Ban Treaty was a phenomenal success,” Donovan said, adding that Kennedy viewed it as an initial step toward ending the nuclear arms race.
Donovan noted that after Kennedy’s assassination, the US approach toward Israel’s nuclear program changed.
He also criticized the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), saying it had been weakened over time by nuclear-armed states and that Israel had not joined it.
Israel has never signed the NPT and has not submitted its nuclear facilities to IAEA inspections. The regime maintains a policy of nuclear ambiguity and has never officially acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons.
Estimates of the size of Israel’s nuclear arsenal vary widely, but it is widely believed to possess hundreds of nuclear warheads and maintains delivery capabilities involving missiles, aircraft and submarines.
Donovan noted that focusing on Iran while nuclear-armed entities continue to expand their arsenals represents a dangerous double standard.
“The fact that we keep pointing at Iran maybe getting a weapon, while we are all wildly building these omnicidal devices claiming they ‘Ensure our Future,’ our security, etc. is blind, dangerous and extremely egocentric,” he said.
He said Iran’s historical experience had also shaped his understanding of Tehran’s security concerns, citing past wars and Western involvement in regional wars.
“I understand better now why it was important for Iran to be prepared for such murderous colonists,” Donovan said, referring to the US-Israeli front that has “violated life” in Iran, Palestine and Lebanon.
The author added that he would continue to call his representatives to “listen to any but Israel.”
“Fortunately, things are changing; people are rising. Most here know what we are doing in Iran is criminal, wrong,” he added.
Iran, Russia, China Demand Guarantees Against Further Attacks on Iranian Nuclear Sites
Sputnik – 09.09.2026
MOSCOW – Iran, Russia and China have demanded guarantees against further attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iran’s mission in Vienna said on Wednesday.
“China, Iran, and Russia, in a joint statement to the [IAEA] BoG [Board of Governors] today, condemned repeated attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, together with continuing threats of further aggression. In this regard, effective assurances, in particular guarantees of the non-recurrence of such actions, are indispensable for further development of Iran’s cooperation with the Agency,” the mission wrote on X.
The prevailing security conditions have effectively made the normal implementation of IAEA safeguards in Iran impossible, the mission added.
The US and Israel struck a number of Iranian nuclear facilities during the conflict of June 2025. Iranian nuclear sites were also hit during the latest escalation that began in late February 2026. Tehran blamed the US for the strikes.
The IAEA Board of Governors began its regular session on Monday in Vienna. The session, which runs until September 11, will address issues related to the implementation of safeguards in Iran and developments surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran to continue IAEA cooperation under existing framework, SNSC decision: Baghaei
Press TV – June 22, 2026
The spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry says Tehran will continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under existing procedures and in accordance with parliamentary legislation and decisions by the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
Esmaeil Baghaei, who serves as spokesperson for the Iranian negotiating team, said on Monday that “Iran’s engagement with the Agency, in fulfillment of its obligations under safeguard agreements, will continue within the existing framework and in line with the resolutions of the Majlis (parliament) and the decisions of the Supreme National Security Council.”
The remarks came after US Vice President JD Vance said during a press conference at the Bürgenstock hotel that Iran had agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into the country.
Sources familiar with Saturday’s talks in Switzerland said Tehran did not negotiate over its nuclear program during the 18-hour discussions and did not agree to any new commitments, IRNA reported.
Meanwhile, Fars News Agency quoted an informed source as saying that Vance’s claim was “false”.
Under the “Law Requiring the Government to Suspend Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” enacted on June 25, 2025, Tehran has invited IAEA inspectors to visit its active nuclear facilities on a case-by-case basis, subject to approval by the SNSC.
Since the law took effect, IAEA inspectors, with the council’s approval, have conducted multiple inspections at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, including overseeing the loading of reactor fuel supplied by Russia.
As a result, inspections of operational Iranian nuclear facilities are not new, and Tehran has continued to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog regarding access to such sites.
However, inspections of damaged nuclear facilities and arrangements concerning Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile remain contingent on the establishment of a specific mechanism in a final agreement expected to be negotiated during the anticipated 60-day talks.
Iran, Russia, China reject IAEA resolution as politically driven
Al Mayadeen | June 10, 2026
Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna has issued a sharp rebuke of the latest International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors’ resolution, rejecting its call on Tehran to declare its uranium stocks and denouncing the move as a politically motivated act unworthy of a technical body.
The mission said the measure was “another political resolution” adopted through a “shaky vote,” saying it falls well short of the standards expected of an agency tasked with technical oversight of nuclear affairs.
The US-backed resolution, passed on Wednesday, calls on Tehran to declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and allow inspectors to verify them. Submitted by the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, it cleared the 35-nation board with 21 votes in favor, three against, and 10 abstentions. Russia, China, and Niger cast the three opposing votes, while Venezuela was barred from taking part.
‘Instrumentalized by warmongers’
Questioning the IAEA’s fitness to act as a neutral arbiter, the mission asked how the agency can be regarded as credible when it is “instrumentalized by warmongers” while remaining unable to register concern over “the most extensive unlawful armed attacks” on safeguarded nuclear facilities.
Iran further accused the resolution of cloaking confrontation in the language of diplomacy, noting that it purports to advance dialogue even as Washington “engages in further acts of aggression, including against Iranian civilian infrastructure, and promotes confrontation in different fora.”
Tehran made clear it does not intend to comply with “a flawed instrument,” stating that any genuine diplomatic process demands “a minimum of good faith” from all parties. Iran added that it will “protect its inalienable rights in response to this flawed resolution.”
Iran, China, Russia reject US draft
In a joint statement delivered at the Board of Governors meeting, Iran, China, and Russia denounced the US draft resolution as politically motivated and unconstructive, warning that it would further aggravate an already fragile situation.
The three countries stressed they oppose any attempt to mislead member states about the true status of Iran’s nuclear programme, including through the director general.
Strikes disrupted verification
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi revealed on Tuesday that it was US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities that had disrupted IAEA verification, forcing inspectors out of the country over safety concerns and halting routine monitoring.
Washington, he stressed, then sought to exploit that disruption to intensify pressure on Tehran through the agency’s Board of Governors.
Gharibabadi called on the international community to hold those who carried out the attacks accountable, highlighting that obstructing international verification at safeguarded facilities should be treated as a legal and international responsibility.
The US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28 with attacks on Iranian territory, including the nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz.
Tehran maintains its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful, a position confirmed by multiple US intelligence assessments, and argues that the strikes are precisely what have made implementation of its safeguards obligations impossible at the damaged sites.
New IAEA draft resolution recycles Iran ‘non-compliance’ myth while ignoring two imposed wars
Press TV | June 8, 2026
A draft resolution set to be tabled at the June 2026 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors – a copy of which is in the possession of the Press TV website – is another calculated attempt to weaponize the UN nuclear watchdog against Iran and its peaceful nuclear program.
The new resolution – like many other IAEA resolutions in the past – seeks to mount political pressure on Tehran over the unsubstantiated and long-discredited claim of “non-compliance” with ITS nuclear safeguards obligations.
The proposed resolution, titled “Implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement and relevant provisions of UNSC resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” does nothing more than recycle the same old accusations.
It alleges that Iran has failed to provide the IAEA with full and timely cooperation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities at multiple locations, ignoring the fact that three important Iranian nuclear sites were bombed by the United States and Israel.
Significantly, the draft text refers back to a June 2025 resolution that – without presenting any tangible evidence whatsoever – found Iran in non-compliance with its safeguards obligations under Article XII.C of the IAEA Statute.
That politically driven resolution, history now records, paved the ground for direct and unprovoked Israeli military aggression against Iran days later. The IAEA, by pushing that resolution, effectively became complicit in aggression against a sovereign NPT signatory.
According to the current draft, Iran has failed over the past year to remedy those alleged concerns or provide the access and information requested by the agency. This is a claim Tehran categorically dismisses, pointing out – correctly – that the agency’s demands frequently exceed Iran’s legal obligations under the NPT.
The IAEA, under Western pressure, keeps moving the goalposts – demanding more than the law requires, encouraging Iran’s enemies to impose sanctions and wage wars, refusing to condemn attacks on nuclear facilities, and then dishing out new reports against Iran.
The latest resolution further cites the IAEA’s 2025 Safeguards Implementation Report and a subsequent report by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, which claimed that the agency remains unable to verify previously declared nuclear material in Iran, including a large quantity of highly enriched uranium (HEU).
What the resolution conveniently omits is the context: much of the IAEA’s so-called “lack of access” stems directly from the damage inflicted by US-Israeli military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities – strikes that Grossi-led agency has never once condemned.
The draft further expresses “grave concern” that the agency has lacked access for nearly a year to verify previously declared stocks of both highly enriched and low-enriched uranium, describing the delay as “long overdue according to standard safeguards practice” and warning that it constitutes both a proliferation concern and a compliance issue.
But here is what the resolution does not say: Iran lost access to its own facilities because those facilities were bombed by the same entities that dictate terms to Grossi and his team.
The text further reiterates that the IAEA is currently unable to verify that no safeguarded nuclear material in Iran has been diverted toward nuclear weapons or other explosive devices, invoking Article 19 of Iran’s safeguards agreement. This is an assertion Tehran has consistently rejected as factually incorrect and politically motivated.
In one of its strongest passages, the draft stresses that Iran’s safeguards obligations “cannot be unilaterally amended or suspended,” while reaffirming Tehran’s legal obligation to implement modified Code 3.1 of its subsidiary arrangements with the agency. That provision requires early notification and disclosure of nuclear facility design information.
Iran’s response is straightforward: Such demands must be viewed against the backdrop of two unprovoked wars of aggression on its territory, including direct attacks on nuclear sites.
No other NPT signatory has ever endured two full-scale military attacks while simultaneously being accused of non-compliance with its commitments. No other country has been bombed and then blamed for the consequences of those bombings.
The resolution also references earlier UN Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 1737 adopted in 2006, which – very illogically and unreasonably – demanded that Iran suspend all peaceful enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development work, as well as heavy water-related projects.
The text calls on Grossi to provide another report on Iran’s implementation of the resolution ahead of the Board’s next regular session. Quite interestingly, the draft warns that the Board remains prepared to take “further action,” including steps related to reporting Iran’s case again to the United Nations Security Council under Article XII.C of the IAEA Statute.
What is absurd is that the IAEA wants to report Iran to the Security Council, the very same Security Council whose permanent members were involved in the aggression against Iran.
This new and another politically-motivated draft resolution comes despite the fact that Iran has adhered to all its commitments under the NPT, despite being subjected to illegal sanctions and two unprovoked wars in less than a year.
The first act of unprovoked and illegal military aggression in June 2025 came merely days after the IAEA passed its previous resolution against Iran. Israeli fighter jets struck Iran’s central uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Days later, the Arak nuclear reactor was also attacked. So, it was an IAEA resolution, followed by bombs.
Behrooz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, at the time condemned the IAEA for its “dangerous and deliberate silence” regarding the aggression.
“We wrote multiple letters to Director-General Rafael Grossi warning of these threats, but they remained unanswered,” Kamalvandi said. The agency was forewarned, but it didn’t act.
In the subsequent days, Israel’s aggression intensified further, in flagrant violation of international law. On June 19, Israel carried out more strikes on multiple other sites, including the Natanz facility and the Khondab (Arak) heavy water reactor.
Just three days later, on June 22, American B-2 bombers breached Iranian airspace, targeting critical nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan in a coordinated US-Israeli assault.
In response to this aggression against peaceful nuclear facilities and the IAEA’s complicit silence, Iran’s parliament approved a bill in June last year to suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the agency. Lawmakers described the IAEA’s actions as a betrayal of its own charter and a direct enabler of aggression against a sovereign member of the NPT.
Iran still kept the window open for the UN nuclear agency, like a responsible state, allowing it to make amends, but the politicization of the agency continued.
Far from acting as a neutral arbiter, the UN atomic agency has repeatedly allowed itself to be wielded as a political instrument by the United States and the Israeli regime. Even as Iran continues to cooperate with the agency, it has remained utterly mute regarding Israel’s serial violations of international law, an illegitimate entity that has not even signed the NPT.
Its silence over the regime’s aerial and cyber attacks against Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities is nothing less than collusion by an international body sworn to impartiality.
Experts have long warned that this one-sided scrutiny has inflicted serious damage on the credibility of the international non-proliferation regime. It has created a two-tier system: one tier for Western-backed nuclear actors like Israel, which act with complete impunity, and another tier for sovereign and responsible non-nuclear states like Iran.
More recently, the US-Israeli war machine carried out yet another unprovoked military aggression against the Islamic Republic, and once again, the IAEA stood as a mute spectator.
IAEA Secretariat Ignores Daily Ukrainian Attacks on Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant – Rosatom Chief
Sputnik – 16.05.2026
MOSCOW – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Secretariat is effectively ignoring daily Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and the killing of Russian citizens by Ukrainian forces, Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said on Saturday.
“The IAEA Secretariat is effectively ignoring daily Ukrainian attacks on the ZNPP, civilian infrastructure, and the killing of Russian citizens by Ukrainian forces, limiting itself solely to public statements about the threat of drones flying at a distance from Ukrainian nuclear power plants,” he said.
He added that the topic of escalation in the ZNPP area will be key during upcoming consultations with IAEA leadership, tentatively scheduled for mid-July.
“Regarding the issue of ensuring reliable power supply to the power units, let me remind you that for more than two months now, the plant has been supplied via only one power line instead of two. During this time, we have repeatedly faced situations of complete blackout of the ZNPP and the launch of reserve, or in other words, emergency, diesel generators,” the Rosatom CEO said.
On New Strike
A Ukrainian kamikaze drone has hit a pipeline running along the turbine halls of the ZNPP, Likhachev also said.
“Today, a kamikaze drone struck a pipeline running along the ZNPP turbine halls and, without detonating, fell near Power Unit 1,” Likhachev said.
More drones hit two gas stations in the city of Energodar, disabling them, he added.
“Drones are targeting trucks and buses, effectively preventing the delivery of food and essential goods,” Likhachev said.
This is sowing panic and making normal life in the city impossible, he also said.
“People are afraid to leave their homes. These intimidation tactics are also aimed at ZNPP employees, directly undermining the nuclear safety of the plant,” Likhachev added.
In letter to UN chief, Araghchi warns of dire consequences of US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities
Press TV – April 5, 2026
Iran’s foreign minister has raised serious concerns over the adverse consequences of US-Israeli airstrikes on the Iranian civilian nuclear facilities, notably the Bushehr nuclear power plant, emphasizing that such attacks expose the region to the risk of radioactive contamination.
In identical letters addressed to the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the members of the Security Council on Saturday, Abbas Araghchi said that the US-Israeli assaults on Iranian nuclear installations happen regardless of the fact that these facilities are devoted exclusively to peaceful purposes and are operating under the IAEA’s comprehensive safeguards regime.
“These unlawful attacks expose the entire region to the risk of radioactive contamination with grave humanitarian and environmental consequences, and as such shall not be left unattended,” the letters read.
Araghchi pointed out that Iran has experienced two wars of aggression within the span of nine months, imposed by the US, a depository of the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and Israel, an outlaw regime that remains outside the framework of the NPT.
He noted that Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities were attacked and bombed in both instances, and with grave disappointment, the United Nations Security Council, the IAEA Board of Governors and its director general have flatly failed even to condemn the illegal attacks, let alone undertake effective measures within their mandate to prevent their recurrence.
“Now the US Senior officials, who label international humanitarian law as ‘stupid,’ have gained the audacity to state that nuclear facilities are among their targets,” the Iranian foreign minister wrote.
He stated that the US permanent representative to the United Nations has openly expressed that attacks against the Bushehr nuclear power plant are “not off the table.”
“Such recklessness is the direct consequence of the inaction of the United Nations and the agency regarding the manifest acts of aggression by the United States and the Israeli regimes, which have only emboldened the aggressors. This course of unlawful attacks inflicted an irreparable blow upon the credibility of the United Nations, the Security Council, the IAEA, and its safeguards system,” Araghchi stated.
The top Iranian diplomat said it is disturbing that since the beginning of the ongoing war on February 28, attacks on Iranian civilian nuclear facilities have been carried out without any outright condemnation being heard from relevant international bodies.
“The aggressors’ repeated strikes in the vicinity of the active nuclear power plant in Bushehr is extremely alarming; their proximity to an active nuclear facility constitutes an intolerable escalation entailing a grave risk of radiological release,” Araghchi said.
The Iranian foreign minister finally highlighted that should the Security Council and the Board of Governors of the IAEA remain indifferent in the face of a manifest illegal attack against Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities, the member states may lose confidence in the United Nations, the agency, and the broader non-proliferation regime will be further eroded. “The consequences of such inaction would not be confined to Iran,” he added.
The United States and Israel initiated a large-scale and unprovoked military campaign against Iran on February 28, assassinating Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and several high-ranking military commanders and civilians.
The aggression has comprised a series of intensive strikes on both military installations and civilian facilities throughout Iran, leading to considerable loss of life and widespread damage to infrastructure.
In response, the Iranian Armed Forces have carried out waves of massive missile and drone operations against US interests across West Asia and Israeli positions in the occupied territories.
IAEA Never Had Reasons to Forgo Talks With Iran — Russian MFA Spox
Sputnik – 07.03.2026
During many years of contacts with Iran, the IAEA has never found grounds to refuse negotiations on Iranian nuclear program, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
“Throughout all these years, there has not been a single instance where the IAEA stated that there is a reason to confirm a claim or accusation against Iran,” Zakharova noted.
While the issue was “handled politically” and there were public and behind-the-scenes intrigues, not a single report, speech or fact-based document from the agency contained any accusations against Iran, she added.
The IAEA never stated Iran had a nuclear bomb, only noting the fact of uranium enrichment, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on March 5. The Iranians started boosting the enrichment process only after the US withdrew from the agreements on Iran’s nuclear program, he added.
Iran says no basis for inspection of bombed nuclear sites
Press TV – December 24, 2025
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says that political and psychological pressure over inspection of damaged nuclear facilities will have no effect, calling for clear procedures to be established for such occasions.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mohammad Eslami said there is currently no codified instruction for inspecting nuclear facilities that have been damaged by military attacks.
“Until this issue is clarified, political and psychological pressure and irrelevant follow-ups aimed at re-inspecting bombed facilities and completing the enemy’s operations are unacceptable and will not be responded to,” he said.
Back in June, during the US-Israeli aggression against Iran, the US bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, in a clear violation of international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Eslami noted that Article 68 of the Safeguards Agreement refers only to natural accidents and damage, not military attacks or war.
“If the IAEA considers military attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities acceptable, it must explicitly approve and declare that,” he said. “But if such attacks are illegal, they must be condemned, and the post-war procedures must be clearly defined.”
He added that until such conditions are formally defined by the agency, Iran will not accept demands for renewed inspections of damaged sites.
On Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Eslami said no country in history has cooperated with the agency to the extent Iran has.
“The most extensive and intensive inspections ever conducted have been imposed on Iran’s nuclear industry, and there is not a single report indicating non-compliance or diversion from safeguards,” he said.
He characterized current pressure as politically motivated and aimed at harming and weakening the Iranian people, stressing that Iran’s nuclear activities remain entirely peaceful.
Referring to the UN Security Council meeting held on Tuesday, Eslami said the discussions no longer merely warranted regret but instead exposed the reality of long-standing US pressure on Iran’s nuclear industry.
He noted that Washington has openly stated in its national security strategy that it does not pursue its interests through international organizations and, instead, relies on “the law of the jungle and the use of force.”
Eslami described the report, statements, and references made during the Security Council session as “completely unprofessional and non-legal.”
He emphasized that UN Security Council Resolution 2231 has expired, and even if it were to be cited, its procedural requirements were not followed.
Claims that Iran’s alleged non-compliance with the JCPOA justifies the reinstatement of previous UN sanctions, he said, are “entirely rejected and unacceptable.”
He added that China and Russia, both permanent members of the Security Council with veto power, have explicitly rejected these claims, stating that the push by the three European countries and the United States—backed by Israeli lobbying—has no legal standing and is not enforceable.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Eslami announced the launch of a nationwide multimedia festival titled “Nuclear Technology for Life,” organized jointly with Iran’s national broadcaster.
He said the initiative aims to counter misinformation and distorted narratives about Iran’s nuclear program by presenting multi-layered accounts through public and media participation.
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Fanatical Followers of the Covid Regime: A Jim Jones-Style Cult?
By Professor Roger Watson and Dr. Niall McCrae | The Daily Sceptic | November 15, 2021
As scholars at leading British universities over recent decades, we witnessed the replacement of critical thinking and debate by narrative: facts are discrimination and scientific method is imperialism; truth, instead, is derived from ‘progressive’ values. This educational trend may be a major contributory factor to the ease in which society has been inculcated to the Covid ‘new normal’ of masking, testing, and repeated doses of vaccines for a disease of similar risk to severe influenza.
One doesn’t need much critical reasoning to observe the flawed logic of some vaccination enthusiasts, such as people who respond to experiencing any side effects, however debilitating, by saying “at least I know it’s working”, or, after contracting the disease despite their promised inoculation (over 90% effective, according to initial drug company claims), “I’d have been worse off without the jab.” … continue
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