Iran’s atomic chief denounces US-Israeli attacks on nuclear plants as ‘war crime’

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has stated that the latest US-Israeli attack on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant amounts to a war crime, stressing that the failure of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to condemn such attacks has emboldened the aggressors.

In a letter to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, Mohammad Eslami formally protested the aerial and missile attack carried out by the United States and the Israeli regime on the area near Unit 1 of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP-1) on Saturday morning.

He noted that the impact of the blast and shrapnel from the attack damaged a building inside the site, killing a member of the security staff and injuring several others.

According to the letter, this was the fourth attack against BNPP-1.

Eslami warned that such actions could risk the widespread release of radioactive materials from an operating reactor, emphasizing that this issue would have irreversible, serious consequences for the population and the environment of Iran and even neighboring countries.

The letter noted that the attack constitutes a clear violation of the principle prohibiting attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities belonging to a state party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), describing it as a clear war crime and a threat to the global non‑proliferation order.

It also added that such military attacks violate the Geneva Conventions and their protocols, the IAEA Statute, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement between Iran and IAEA (INFCIRC/214), Board of Governors resolutions, and the IAEA’s safety standards.

Eslami slammed the inaction of IAEA and its Director General on the US-Israeli attacks, stating that merely expressing “deep concern” without explicitly condemning these aggressive actions is insufficient and could embolden the aggressors to repeat such attacks.

“It is clear that this inaction, especially the Director General’s politically biased media interviews and remarks… has further emboldened the aggressors to continue these brutal aggressions that violate international principles and rules,” he said, referring to remarks made by Grossi remarks during an interview with CBS News the on March 18.

“Without a doubt, the continuation of these inactions is considered a form of clear complicity with the perpetrators, a complicity that will forever be recorded in history and, of course, will further undermine the Agency’s credibility,” the letter emphasized.

Eslami called on the IAEA and its chief to adopt “firm” stances and condemn these attacks on Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities, and fulfill their statutory responsibilities rather than remain silent on and indifferent.

Eslami vowed that the Islamic Republic will take the necessary measures to defend its sovereign rights.

The US and Israel started a fresh round of aerial aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country.

Iran began to swiftly retaliate against the strikes by launching barrages of missile and drone attacks on the Israeli-occupied territories as well as on US bases and interests in regional countries.

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