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The Plot Thickens: Iran vs. IAEA DG Grossi

Tehran Times on June 27, 2025, wrote: ‘Rafael Grossi’s disgracefulness, his sheer audacity, and his utter lack of genuine concern for the very laws he is entrusted to uphold surpass even the most egregious Western puppets who have come before him.’ ‘In a post on X, Iran’s former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called for Grossi's replacement at the IAEA. Zarif wrote: “Having abetted the slaughter of innocents through his fictitious IAEA report, Rafael Grossi is now conspiring to abet more war crimes through his reckless musing that Iran is hiding uranium at World Heritage Sites in Isfahan. IAEA should rid itself of this disgrace.” 

Tehran Times on June 20 reported: ‘on [June 19] Mohammad Eslami, Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, formally notified Grossi of impending legal action for "inaction" over Israel’s "repeated barbaric attacks" on safeguarded nuclear sites. Eslami emphasized the IAEA Board operates under "the guidance, influence, and support of three European countries [France, Germany, U.K.], the U.S., and the Zionist regime" .... Israel’s attacks commenced shortly after Grossi's controversial June 12 report to the IAEA Board of Governors session.’ ‘Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei declared Grossi had "betrayed the non-proliferation regime," transforming the IAEA into "a partner to an unjust war of aggression."’ 

To help understand what is going on here, CNN reported on June 27: ‘The Iranian parliament’s decision to suspend working with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)... is because of the “regrettable role” played by the agency’s chief Rafael Grossi, Iran’s foreign minister said.’

‘In a post on X, Abbas Araghchi accused Grossi of facilitating the United States and Israeli strikes in Iran… citing an IAEA report a day prior to the Israeli strike. The report had declared Iran was violating its nuclear nonproliferation obligations.’ ‘Grossi has denied that the report gave any country the green light to strike inside Iran.’ 

‘Araghchi posted: “In an astounding betrayal of his duties [Rafael Grossi] has additionally failed to explicitly condemn such blatant violations of IAEA safeguards and its statute,”, adding that Grossi’s insistence on inspecting the Iranian nuclear sites that were bombed is “meaningless and possibly even malign in intent.” The Iranian minister asserted that Iran has the right to “take any steps” to defend itself.’

Now it becomes clear! Iran is trying to make a case for not permitting IAEA inspectors to visit the bombed facilities now or when they are opened up. And one can guess that means Iran will not send nuclear material accounting reports to IAEA with the quantities of material at Fordow and Natanz and Isfahan. Iran is obligated to send those reports by its NPT comprehensive safeguards agreement (CSA). If it does not do so, Iran knows that it will be in noncompliance. The DG will report that to the IAEA Board, which will report it to the UN Security Council. As defensive moves in advance of all that, Iran is attacking the trustworthiness of IAEA and its Director General to justify not providing IAEA the information and access to its nuclear facilities as required by its CSA. 

We will follow what happens in the coming days and weeks to see how all that plays out.

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