Iran’s parliament speaker slams IAEA resolution, vows stronger response

The US Embassy in Bahrain said Thursday that its staffing and operations remain unchanged, dismissing reports suggesting any shift in its posture.

“Activities continue as normal,” the embassy said, adding that “reports that the embassy has changed its posture in any way are false.”

The evacuation of some US embassy personnel from Iraq and other areas in the Middle East was a “regulatory precautionary measure” taken by Washington and not based on any credible security threat within Iraq, Iraq’s military spokesperson said Thursday.

“Intelligence and field reports do not indicate actual threats that would affect the work of diplomatic missions,” the spokesman said, according to Iraq’s state news agency.

"[The decision] has nothing to do with the presence of any field security indicators within Iraqi territory.”

Israel called on the international community Thursday to “respond decisively” after the IAEA formally declared Iran in breach of its nuclear safeguards obligations for the first time in nearly two decades.

“Iran has consistently obstructed IAEA’s verification and monitoring, it removed inspectors, and it sanitised and concealed suspected undeclared locations in Iran,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on X.

“These actions undermine the global non-proliferation regime and pose an imminent threat to regional and international security and stability,” it added, urging coordinated international pressure to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran’s top military commander has issued an early order to initiate the country’s annual military exercises, state media reported Thursday, as tensions rise over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The directive, signed by Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, shifts the usual defense calendar to focus more closely on monitoring “enemy movements.”

“The purpose of these exercises is to strengthen the defensive power and assess the readiness of the armed forces,” Bagheri said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry criticized International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi on Thursday, accusing him of a biased and politically motivated approach to Iran’s nuclear program.

“Grossi bears direct responsibility for weakening the professional credibility of the Agency,” Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said.

He also condemned the resolution passed by the IAEA Board of Governors at the urging of the US, France, Germany, and the UK.

The Islamic Republic would adopt necessary countermeasures to protect national interests, he said.