Iran firmly rejects IAEA access to bomb-damaged nuclear sites, reaffirms sovereign red lines
Iranian Parliament Speaker and Chief Nuclear Negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf firmly rejected Western reports claiming that IAEA inspectors had been granted access to nuclear facilities damaged in recent U.S.-Israeli aggression.
Qalibaf emphasized that Iranian law strictly limits inspections to only two designated sites: the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Tehran research reactor. “We ourselves passed a law in parliament; the Supreme National Security Council also has a resolution,” he stated. “Under this law, absolutely no access is given to sites that have been bombed and damaged. This is the law.”
Qalibaf made it unequivocally clear that any level of cooperation with the IAEA remains strictly within the framework authorized by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. “Right now, they only have the right of access in two sites: the Bushehr power plant and the Tehran reactor. Access has been limited to that and we are committed to it,” he affirmed, underscoring Iran’s principled and unwavering stance against any attempts to exploit its peaceful nuclear program following illegal attacks.
The senior Iranian official also defended the country’s balanced approach of diplomacy backed by strength. Addressing critics, Qalibaf declared: “Critics neither help the country in diplomacy nor in war, but I am standing to both fight and conduct diplomacy.”
Qalibaf linked national resistance to broader regional justice: “Blood vengeance for our martyred Imam (the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei) is the liberation of al-Quds, and for that we must preserve Lebanon. Blood vengeance cannot be achieved with slogans.” He stressed that “Our enemy understands nothing but the language of power, and we must deal with it from a position of strength.”
Qalibaf’s statements come in the wake of constructive talks held this week in Doha, where Iranian representatives engaged with mediators and formally raised Washington’s violations of the ceasefire memorandum of understanding, without direct U.S. participation.
By upholding its legal and strategic red lines, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to demonstrate resilience and strategic clarity in the face of aggression, protecting its sovereignty while advancing a firm diplomatic track rooted in strength and national dignity. Tehran remains committed to its inalienable rights and will not yield to pressure or illegitimate demands from those who have repeatedly violated international norms through military strikes and sabotage. (ILKHA)
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