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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 President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that peace is only possible if Israel unconditionally stops its aggression and guarantees an end to what he called “Zionist terrorist adventures.”
“Otherwise, our response to the enemy will be harsher and make them regret it,” Pezeshkian wrote on X.
Russian specialists are still working at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant and the situation at the site remains normal and under control, the head of Russia’s nuclear agency said on Friday.
Rosatom chief Alexei Likhachev said he hoped Moscow’s warnings to Israel not to target the facility had been heard by Israeli leaders.
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.
