Iran criticizes Grossi’s double standard over condemnation of attacks on nuclear facilities

TEHRAN – Iran’s permanent mission to international organizations in Vienna has criticized a 'double standard' by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi in responding to attacks on nuclear facilities, saying he had previously considered condemning attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites to be beyond his mandate. In a statement posted on its X account on Monday, the Iranian mission said it was striking that Grossi had used the phrase “STRONGLY CONDEMNS” in response to the killing of a staff member at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but had not shown the same resolve when Iran’s nuclear facilities and personnel were targeted.

“But why is it not applied consistently in all situations?” the mission asked. It noted that when US and Israeli forces bombed Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards—an unprecedented attack in the Agency’s history—or when Iranian nuclear scientists and personnel were assassinated, Grossi refrained from issuing a condemnation. “In those situations, the Director General apparently considered condemnation to fall outside his ‘purview’ and ‘work’,” the statement said.

“Selective outrage isn’t a pillar of nuclear safety and safeguards. It’s a pillar of a résumé,” the mission added. It stressed that institutional responsibilities cannot be exercised selectively, emphasizing that professionalism requires consistency in addressing attacks on nuclear facilities and threats to nuclear safety and security.