ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The global nuclear watchdog on Friday issued a dire warning of the dangerous fallout if Israel continues to strike Iran’s nuclear sites and said that it can guarantee Tehran will not obtain a nuclear weapon through “water-tight” inspections.
“The IAEA can guarantee through a water-tight inspection system that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran.
“Iran’s uranium stockpiles remain under safeguards,” said Grossi, urging a resumption of IAEA inspections.
Iran’s nuclear facilities and scientists are a primary target of Israel’s operation launched last Friday. “We will not let the world’s most dangerous regime get the world’s most dangerous weapon,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X on Wednesday.
Tehran has consistently maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and it does not seek a weapon.
Several of Iran’s nuclear sites have been damaged by Israel, the IAEA has confirmed.
At the Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant, one of the locations enriching uranium, electricity infrastructure was destroyed and its underground enrichment halls were impacted. There was no external radiation leak, but there was some contamination within the facility.
The Isfahan nuclear site, the TESA Karaj workshop, the Tehran Research Center, and the Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor all suffered damage from Israeli strikes, though without any risk to the public.
An Israeli military spokesperson on Thursday said that Iran’s Bushehr site was struck, though another official later retracted the statement.
Grossi warned of the consequences if Bushehr is hit.
“This is the nuclear site in Iran where the consequences of an attack would be the most serious. It is an operating nuclear power plant and as such it hosts thousands of kilograms of nuclear material,” he told the Security Council.
“The case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment. Similarly, a hit that disables the only two lines supplying electrical power to the plant could cause its reactor’s core to melt, which could result in a high release of radioactivity to the environment,” said Grossi.
Populations in “distances from a few to several hundred kilometres” would be affected, he said.
Bushehr is located in southern Iran on the Persian Gulf.
Iraq is preparing for the threat of a nuclear disaster. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Thursday met with a nuclear emergency advisory group.
“Sudani was briefed by specialists on the limited potential impact on Iraq in the event of any emergency affecting enrichment facilities, resulting from the ongoing Zionist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The briefing confirmed that no increase in background radiation levels had been detected across Iraq. The Emergency Operations Room also affirmed the full readiness of response teams to undertake necessary procedures in case of a radiological emergency,” read a statement from his office.
Addressing the Security Council, Israel’s envoy, Danny Danon, accused the Security Council of inaction on Iran’s nuclear program.
“While Iranian missiles fly, the UN urges restraint and de-escalation while ignoring Iran’s nuclear ambitions altogether. That weakness, that detachment from reality, that hypocrisy is what allowed Iran to get as far in its nuclear program as it did. It is what allowed Iran to sow chaos across the world,” he said, adding “Israel cannot and will not accept this situation.”
Iran’s representative to the UN urged the Security Council to act.
“Israel’s strikes are an assault on the global non-proliferation regime,” said Amir Saeid Iravani. “If the council fails to act now, it will send a message that international law and resolutions apply selectively. If the non-proliferation regime collapses, this council will share responsibility with the Israeli regime.”
