Iran willing to pursue 'pragmatic' policy with Europe - Reuters

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said the agency’s recent report on Iran’s nuclear program contained no new findings and should not be used to justify military action.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said the agency had long noted Iran’s lack of cooperation on clarifying aspects of its nuclear activity, but stressed the report “could hardly be a basis for any military action,” in an interview with CNN.

“Military action, from whomever it comes, is a political decision that has nothing to do with what we are saying,” Grossi said. He added that the IAEA currently has no indication Iran is operating a systematic program to produce a nuclear weapon.

CNN, which aired the interview, said the IAEA’s report had been cited in part by Israeli officials for their military strikes on Iran.

Earlier this month, the IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution declaring Iran in non-compliance with its safeguards obligations for the first time in nearly two decades.

In its board-mandated report published in May, the agency concluded that three of four sites under investigation had been part of a previously undeclared, structured nuclear program Iran conducted until the early 2000s, and that some of the work involved undeclared nuclear material.

"Our fight in Iran may last a long time," Israeli military spokesman Avi Deveren said Friday, as the war with Iran entered its second week.

Deveren added that Israeli forces are operating in Iranian airspace and underground, and that strikes on nuclear sites are ongoing and set to expand.

He said destroying Iran’s missile platforms is central to achieving Israel’s war objectives.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that Tehran has rejected a US request to open negotiations.

“The Americans have asked for negotiations, and our answer is no,” Araghchi said in comments published by the Entekhab news outlet.

He also said US President Donald Trump’s language around Israeli military actions shows Washington is already involved. “There is no longer any need for proof,” he said.

Araghchi added that calls for ending the war have already begun and will continue to grow. “We are engaged in legitimate self-defense, and this defense will not stop,” he said.

Russia would view the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a highly dangerous escalation and considers regime change in Iran “unacceptable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Sky News on Friday.

“They will open the Pandora's box,” Peskov said, referring to Khamenei being named as a possible target of Israeli or US strikes.

He warned that the region is already extremely tense and said any expansion of the conflict would further destabilize the Middle East. “It will lead only to another circle of confrontation and escalation of tension,” he said.

Peskov added that an assassination attempt could trigger a response from inside Iran and fuel extremist sentiment. “Those who are speaking about this should keep it in mind,” he said.

His comments followed a statement by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said Thursday that Israel's war aims include removing Iran’s nuclear and missile threats, adding that “such a man [Khamenei] can no longer be allowed to exist.”

US President Donald Trump, who has said he will decide within two weeks whether the United States will join Israel’s military campaign, said earlier this week that the US would not kill Khamenei—“at least not yet.”

Iran condemned Israel’s strike on the Arak heavy water reactor, saying it targeted a safeguarded nuclear facility in violation of international law, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.

Araghchi urged the UN Security Council to enforce its own resolutions against military attacks on nuclear sites, warning that failure to respond would undermine the global nonproliferation system.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed on Thursday that the reactor—while non-operational and containing no nuclear material—had sustained damage to key buildings, including the distillation unit. The IAEA said there were no radiological consequences and that the adjacent heavy water production plant was not hit.