Iran has sharply criticised the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing the UN nuclear watchdog of remaining silent over American and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities and of applying double standards in its treatment of member states. The statement was issued by Iran’s permanent mission in Vienna to mark the 70th anniversary of the IAEA Statute, adopted on 23 October 1956.
Iran’s mission said the anniversary should be more than a ceremonial occasion. It called for “critical reflection, institutional accountability” and a renewed commitment to applying the agency’s founding rules fully, impartially and without discrimination. In Tehran’s view, the Statute is the IAEA’s constitution not a document that powerful states may invoke selectively to serve their own interests, according to Mehr News Agency.
The sharpest criticism concerned the agency’s response to military attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites in 2025 and 2026. Iran said the United States and Israel struck safeguarded facilities devoted to peaceful purposes, describing the attacks as grave violations of international law and serious challenges to nuclear safety and security.
According to the Iranian statement, the IAEA’s General Conference and Board of Governors have repeatedly adopted resolutions saying that armed attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities violate the UN Charter, international law and the agency’s own Statute. Yet, Iran argued, the agency’s governing bodies and secretariat failed to issue even a simple condemnation of the attacks on Iranian facilities, a silence it called unprecedented in the IAEA’s history.
“The Agency cannot credibly defend the integrity of safeguards while treating attacks against facilities subject to those safeguards as a secondary concern,” the statement said. Iran urged the IAEA to reaffirm clearly that attacks on peaceful nuclear installations are unlawful and unacceptable under any pretext.
Iran also accused the agency of unequal treatment. It contrasted the close scrutiny applied to Iran’s nuclear programme with the absence of comprehensive safeguards over Israel’s nuclear activities, noting that Israel remains outside the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Tehran said this disparity raises fundamental questions about the credibility and consistency of global non proliferation rules.
The Iranian mission further argued that the IAEA should not be reduced to a “watchdog” focused only on inspections. It said the agency’s mandate also includes promoting peaceful nuclear energy, scientific cooperation and technical assistance, particularly for developing countries. Access to peaceful nuclear technology, Iran insisted, must not become a privilege reserved for a select group of states.
Tehran called on the IAEA Board of Governors and Director General to end double standards, resist politicisation, protect confidential information and condemn attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities. It also demanded a fair and non-discriminatory technical cooperation policy that allows all member states to benefit from nuclear science and technology.
The statement reflects the deep strain between Iran and the IAEA at a time when inspections, sanctions and regional security remain tightly intertwined. For Iran, the issue is not merely technical verification but whether an international institution can treat all its members equally. For the IAEA, the challenge is to preserve its authority in a Middle East where nuclear facilities have themselves become targets of war.
