Iran berates IAEA chief for exonerating Israel as non-NPT member

A senior Iranian diplomat has reprimanded the UN nuclear agency IAEA chief for exonerating the illegal Zionist entity from nuclear inspections over the contention that the regime is not a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The rebuke came after IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in an interview that there is no talk about Israel's nuclear program because the regime is not a signatory to the NPT and the degree of inspection that the UN's nuclear agency has is limited to whatever Israeli officials declare.

“What is the advantage of being both a NPT member and fully implementing the Agency’s safeguards?" Iran’s ambassador to the international organizations in Vienna Kazem Gharibabadi asked in a tweet thread on Friday.

"Silence and negligence about Israel’s nuclear program sends a negative message to the NPT members that being a member equals accepting the robust verifications, while being outside the Treaty means to be free from any obligation and criticism, and even be rewarded,” he added.

In his interview, Grossi also said that Iran, as a party to the NPT, must observe its obligations under the treaty and must subject its nuclear sites to inspections and verifications.

"How could one see the IAEA as a serious, professional and impartial partner when it does not pursue evenly and justly the implementation of its safeguards regime for all its members?” Gharibabadi asked.

Israel, which pursues a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

The regime has refused to allow inspections of its military nuclear facilities or sign the NPT.

The Israeli regime, the region’s sole nuclear arms possessor, has also assassinated seven Iranian nuclear scientists.

Neither the IAEA nor the United Nations have taken the Tel Aviv regime to task for its illegal activities aimed at endangering the regional and international peace and security.

SS