{"id":317741,"date":"2025-11-01T06:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T06:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=317741"},"modified":"2025-11-02T08:41:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T08:41:25","slug":"iran-is-not-and-was-not-developing-nuclear-weapons-says-uns-nuclear-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=317741","title":{"rendered":"Iran \u2018is not and was not\u2019 developing nuclear weapons, says UN\u2019s nuclear chief"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ephrem Kossaify \u2013 Arab News Oct 30, 2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi (right), on Wednesday said that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, pushing back against what he described as persistent misquoting of the agency\u2019s position.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York, he said the Iranians \u201care not, and they were not,\u201d attempting to develop nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be very clear on this,\u201d he added. \u201cWe are often misquoted about this and people say that we have said things we never said.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grossi, who has led the UN\u2019s nuclear watchdog since 2019, said cooperation between Iran and the IAEA has fluctuated in recent months as a result of political developments, but Tehran had nonetheless reaffirmed its commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have told our Iranian counterparts repeatedly that reducing cooperation is not the right response,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think it is a wise step that they have made clear they will not leave the NPT.\u201d<\/p>\n

IAEA inspections in Iran were temporarily withdrawn for safety reasons as a result of the \u201c12-Day War,\u201d between Iran and Israel in June, Grossi said. Efforts to resume engagement are ongoing, he added, highlighting in particular an agreement brokered in September in Cairo, under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, that allows inspections to proceed again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arrangement is not perfect but it is working,\u201d Grossi said, adding that he remains in frequent contact with Iran\u2019s foreign minister and other officials.<\/p>\n

Asked about the Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during the conflict in June, Grossi said the damage to three facilities was \u201cvery considerable\u201d and had set back Iran\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt about this,\u201d he added, cautioning that such incidents complicate the inspection work carried out by the IAEA.<\/p>\n

He rejected claims in the Iranian media that reports compiled by his agency had contributed to regional conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not correct to attack an international organization and blame it for something that has nothing to do with it,\u201d Grossi said. \u201cOur reports reflect technical facts, not political judgments.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the briefing, Grossi also confirmed that he intends to stand as a candidate to replace UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose term will conclude at the end of 2026, and shared his motivation for doing so. He said he believes he can \u201cmake a contribution at this existential moment\u201d for the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all agree that the United Nations needs change,\u201d Grossi told Arab News. \u201cWhat made me decide to run is exactly what I am doing at the IAEA: leading an organization through difficult times, dealing with crises and still delivering results.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that he would discuss his candidacy further \u201cwhen the moment comes,\u201d in line with procedures set out by the UN General Assembly and Security Council.<\/p>\n

Source\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018We are often misquoted about this and people say that we have said things we never said\u2018, says IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-317741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Iran"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317741"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317761,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317741\/revisions\/317761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}