The fallout from International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi’s statements paved the way for an American-Israeli attack on the country, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
“Grossi knows very well that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful,” Esmail Baghaei told Al-Jazeera.
“The consequences of Grossi’s catastrophic statements paved the way for American and Israeli aggression against Iran.”
Grossi’s comments in New York
Inspectors had not observed any suspicious activity at Iranian nuclear sites struck by the United States in June, Grossi said on Wednesday in New York, adding that monitoring had resumed in part.
“We do not see anything that would give rise to hypotheses of any substantive work going on there,” Grossi added.
"We are trying to build it back, and we are inspecting in Iran," he said, "not at every site where we should be doing it - but we are gradually coming back."
Conditional cooperation
Iran limited cooperation with the IAEA following the 12-day war in June, under legislation giving the Supreme National Security Council authority over inspection access.
Iran continues to meet its safeguards commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while adhering to the parliamentary law, Baghaei said on Tuesday.
“In fulfilling these safeguards obligations, we are maintaining interactions with the IAEA while taking into account parliament’s law, which designates the Supreme National Security Council as the authority responsible for decisions on cooperation with the agency,” Baghaei said.
Although Iran and the IAEA agreed in Cairo last month to resume inspections, doubts persist after Germany, France, and the United Kingdom triggered procedures to restore UN sanctions.
A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said satellite imagery shows continued construction at a major underground nuclear facility near Natanz.
