Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations has formally lodged a complaint with the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council against Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing him of undermining the Agency’s impartiality amid recent Israeli hostilities, Tehran Times reports.
In a letter dated Friday, June 20, Iranian Ambassador Amir Saeed Iravani criticized Grossi’s public remarks ahead of Israel’s recent military aggression against the Islamic Republic, calling them a “clear and serious breach of the principle of impartiality” that should govern the responsibilities of his office, according to Mehr News Agency.
Ambassador Iravani argued that Grossi’s statements run counter to the legal duties and obligations enshrined in the IAEA Statute, particularly in moments of heightened international tension. He cited the IAEA chief’s press conference on June 9, 2025—following the Board of Governors meeting—during which Grossi responded to explicit Israeli threats against Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities by referencing only Israel’s so-called “concerns,” while deliberately omitting any reference to binding prohibitions under international law.
Iravani emphasized that Grossi failed to mention the IAEA’s own General Conference Resolutions GC(34)/RES/533 and GC(44)/RES/444, which categorically prohibit any threat or use of force against nuclear facilities dedicated to peaceful purposes. This omission, he wrote, constituted “a blatant dereliction of the legal principles” under Grossi’s mandate.
Highlighting a broader pattern, the Iranian envoy condemned Grossi’s continued failure to identify or condemn Israel as the responsible party in the June 16 attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Despite Israel’s own public declarations of intent to continue such operations “for as many days as necessary,” Grossi refrained from issuing any condemnation, Iravani noted.
Such conduct, Iravani warned, demonstrates a persistent inability to uphold the core principles of neutrality, objectivity, and professionalism expected from the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog. He further stated that Grossi’s silence and inaction in the face of clear violations of international norms “undermine the integrity of the IAEA’s safeguards' regime and weaken the global non-proliferation architecture.”
In his closing remarks, Iravani stressed that the Director General’s continued passivity in response to Israel’s aggressive actions amounts to de facto complicity through inaction—an unprecedented failure in the history of the Agency.
