Mohammad Eslami, who heads Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), spoke to Japan’s Kyoda News Agency in a written interview published on Wednesday.
The current security situation remains “similar during the war,” he added, amid the risk of a possible new attack by the Israeli regime.
The Israeli regime imposed an illegal war of attacks against Iran in June, causing a deadly and destructive attack on Iran targeting nuclear facilities, defensive infrastructure, military officials, nuclear scientists and ordinary civilians. Approximately 935 people, including small children, marryed during the attack that lasted for 12 days.
The US joined the attack midway through its course, struggling several important Iranian nuclear sites.
According to Eslami, “This is the first time in history that a nuclear facility has been subjected to a military attack.”
He reiterated Tehran’s claim that the invasion made Iran impossible to continue cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as before.
“Special precautions must be taken before testing returns to normal.”
Meanwhile, officials renewed the state’s criticism of the IAEA for its role in invasion.
Shortly before the strike, the agency issued an anti-Iranian resolution used by Tel Aviv and Washington to justify the war.
Various reports also emerged in the immediate preparation for the attack that exposed IAEA Director Rafael Grossi’s “close cooperation” with Tel Aviv against Tehran.
On the exact day before, the television of Al-Alam, the Iranian Arabic television news network, saw how a document was leaked indicating that the chief of the UN Nuclear Watch Agency was fully implementing the directions and orders of Israeli officials.
At the time, the report posed questions about the institutional neutrality and independence.
The Iranian parliament passed postwar laws and mandated that cooperation with the institutions be suspended.
Eslami emphasized that in light of such history, trust in agents must be rebuilt.
In a sign of goodwill, Iran signed an agreement with the IAEA in Cairo on September 9, paving the way for the resumption of cooperation between the two parties.
Officials noted that efforts are underway to fully implement the contract.
Meanwhile, Iran has resumed limited internal checks, including the Bucher nuclear power plant in the country’s southern part of the country, but Congress is striving to leak intelligence reports that could expose nuclear facilities to renewed attacks.
“The IAEA is no longer independent.”
Eslami argued that, given the possibility of a new attack and the fact that the IAEA has “lost” independence, “no country has any problem beyond national sovereignty and national security.”
They have succumbed to their wills with the IAEA, including the United States. This threatened to cut the institution’s funding if member states supported a resolution at Vienna’s annual meeting to censor the Israeli regime, he said.
Inaction and “unforgivable mistakes”
The IAEA’s failure to condemn Israeli-American war with Iran was a “unacceptable mistake that has fallen in history,” Eslami said.
In the same context, he urged Grossi to at least acknowledge the issues that lead to such strikes due to issues with nuclear safety and protection regimes.
Officials ultimately defended Iran’s right to peaceful use of nuclear energy under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), saying that “duties are only meaningful when they respect rights.”
MNA/presstv