Iran threatens Argentine diplomat who leads UN nuclear agency

A top Iranian government official has issued a threat against experienced Argentine diplomat Rafael Mariano Grossi, the current chief of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

Grossi, the current director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is at the centre of unrest in the MIddle East thanks to his role as head of the nuclear body.

A diplomat with a long and respected career, who is seeking to become the next UN secretary-general, has drawn attention to Iran’s push for a nuclear weapon.

In a post on social media, Ali Larijani – one of the top advisers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – declared chillingly: “Once the war is over, we will deal with Grossi.”

The threat against the diplomat comes amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran. Authorities in the Islamic Republic have recently voiced their displeasure with IAEA reports on the nation’s nuclear programme, which Israel and the United States seem determined to put an end to.

The regime in Tehran believes that the recent publication of a United Nations report, which detailed sensitive aspects of its nuclear activities, may have played a role in galvanising international support for the Israeli offensive.

According to the report, Iran holds enough enriched uranium at various sites that, if further processed to a higher grade, could be used to build nuclear bombs.

Speaking to CNN in an interview, Grossi said: “A report on nuclear verification in Iran can hardly be the basis for military action. Whoever it comes from, that is a political decision that has nothing to do with what we are saying.”

Last week, Iran accused the UN nuclear agency of acting as a “partner” in what it described as Israel's "war of aggression".

The IAEA accused Iran of a lack of cooperation prior to the start of the Iran-Israel war. The organisation’s board of governors adopted a resolution censuring Iran for "non-compliance" with its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"You betrayed the non-proliferation regime; You've made IAEA a partner to this unjust war of aggression," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on X, in a post addressed to Grossi.

Speaking to France24 in an interview last Wednesday, Grossi had said that although "Iran is the only country in the world that is currently enriching uranium to near-military grade... we are not in a position to say whether there is a direct effort towards building a nuclear weapon.”

– TIMES/AFP/NA/PERFIL