Iran's Vienna mission accuses IAEA chief Grossi of double standards on nuclear issue

Iran's permanent mission to international organizations in Vienna on Wednesday criticized International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi, saying he applied a double standard toward Iran. In a post on a social media platform, the mission said Grossi had again expressed concern about Iran's stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium but remained silent about what it described as the unlawful bombing of Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities that are under IAEA safeguards.

The mission said those acts of aggression also target the foundations of international law, the UN Charter, the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the IAEA Statute. It said Grossi knows the IAEA has audited every gram of Iran's nuclear material and that his own reports have never recorded a deviation of even one gram from stated limits.

The mission further argued that the NPT sets no ceiling on enrichment levels and that no one has the authority to arbitrarily set what it called a fabricated limit. It asked why Grossi does not express concern about the accumulation of tons of weapons-grade nuclear material and plutonium around the world, including in states that do not possess nuclear weapons.

The statement is the latest in a series of exchanges between Iranian officials and the IAEA leadership over the agency's reporting and public commentary on Iran's nuclear program. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear activities are peaceful and subject to agency oversight, while criticizing what it sees as uneven scrutiny of different countries' nuclear programs.

According to Mehr News (MNA), the mission made the remarks in a social media post on Wednesday, framing its criticism around the agency's treatment of safeguarded facilities and the standards it applies to enrichment and to nuclear material held by other states.