Iran refuses inspection of nuclear sites until IAEA provides new guidelines after bombing
A location in Tehran targeted by Israel is ablaze on the third day of Israel's waves of strikes against Iran on June 15.
(CNN) — Iran has said it will not comply with any demands from the UN’s nuclear watchdog to inspect its bombed nuclear sites, citing the absence of established regulations for inspecting facilities damaged by military strikes.
In June, Israel and the United States carried out significant military strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program, damaging key sites including Natanz, Fordo, and Isfahan. The exact condition of Iran’s facilities after the strikes remains unclear.
Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should formally clarify whether such attacks are authorized. If they are not, he added, the agency should condemn the strikes and provide clear procedures for post-war inspections.
“If there are established procedures for the post-war situation, the Agency should announce them so that we can act accordingly,” Eslami said, according to Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
“But if there are none, our request—which we have formally communicated to them—is that it must be clearly defined and codified what steps should be taken if a nuclear facility that is registered with and under the Safeguards of the Agency comes under military attack,” he added.
“Until this issue is clarified, political and psychological pressure, as well as irrelevant demands to re-inspect the bombed facilities and complete the enemy’s operations, will not be accepted and will receive no response,” Eslami said, according to IRNA.
In late November, the IAEA called on Iran to provide full and prompt cooperation, allow verification of nuclear material, and comply with international safeguards and UN Security Council requirements, while continuing diplomatic engagement.
During a United Nations Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation on Tuesday, the deputy head of the European Union delegation, Hedda Samson, called on Iran to provide IAEA with updated and verifiable declarations detailing the quantity, location, and status of its nuclear material and related activities.
France’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Jay Dharmadhikari, said Iran’s failure to implement its “international obligations related to its nuclear programme constitute a grave threat to international peace and security.”
In October, CNN reported on signs that Iran is stepping up the rebuilding of its ballistic missile program, despite the recent reintroduction of United Nations sanctions that ban arms sales to the country and ballistic missile activity.
Eslami reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program remains peaceful and is focused on advancing the country’s technological and scientific capabilities.
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