Speaking at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly on report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in New York on November 14, 2025, Iravani said that such reports are expected to be professional and free from any political agenda.
His full statement is as follows:
I thank the Director General for his report. However, such reports must always remain professional, factual, and free from political influence. The credibility of the Agency depends entirely on its impartiality.
Nuclear energy is indispensable for development and energy security, particularly for developing countries. The transfer of nuclear science and technology—guaranteed under Article IV of the NPT and the IAEA Statute—is an inalienable right, not a privilege. Safeguards must facilitate, not obstruct, the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Any attempt to exploit proliferation concerns to deny developing countries their legitimate rights constitutes a serious violation of the NPT’s letter and spirit.
It is alarming that while certain States systematically restrict developing nations’ access to peaceful nuclear technology, they simultaneously arm and assist the Israeli regime—a regime outside the NPT, with a clandestine arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. Such double standards, combined with unlawful unilateral coercive measures, gravely undermine the credibility of the non-proliferation regime and the Agency’s technical cooperation mandate.
In June 2025, the world witnessed an atrocious act of aggression. The Israeli regime, only hours after a politically motivated resolution in the IAEA Board of Governors, launched massive military strikes against Iran’s safeguarded nuclear facilities—sites under full Agency monitoring. These criminal attacks targeted Iranian scientists and their families, killing and injuring thousands and inflicting immense material damage.
On 22 June, the United States—a permanent member of the Security Council and depositary of the NPT—joined this aggression, directly targeting IAEA-monitored facilities. These acts flagrantly violated international law, the UN Charter, the IAEA Statute, and Security Council Resolution 487 (1981), which explicitly prohibits attacks on safeguarded nuclear installations.
This was not merely an attack on one Member State. It was an assault on the authority of the United Nations, the credibility of the Agency, and the integrity of the safeguards system itself.
While relevant General Conference resolutions, in particular GC(XXIX)/RES/444 and GC(XXXIV)/RES/533, explicitly affirm that any armed attack on, or threat against, nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes constitutes a violation of the principles of the UN Charter, international law, and the Statute of the Agency, and while the Director General has repeatedly emphasized that nuclear facilities must never be attacked under any circumstances due to the grave risks such actions pose to people, the environment, and to nuclear safety, security and safeguards, as well as regional and international peace and security, it is deeply regrettable that the illegal attacks against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities were neither condemned by the Agency nor by the Security Council, nor, indeed, by the Director General himself.
Regrettably, both the President of the General Assembly and the Director General of the IAEA, in their statements under this agenda item, have once again failed to condemn these illegal attacks.
Iran has been a responsible Party to the NPT since 1970. Yet the E3 and the United States, echoing Israeli regime fabrications, continue to misrepresent Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities, while the Israeli regime—the region’s sole possessor of nuclear weapons and main obstacle to a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East—acts with complete impunity.
Despite sabotage, assassinations, and unlawful sanctions, and now direct attacks on our safeguarded facilities, Iran has never violated the JCPOA, the NPT, or its safeguards obligations, and has remained committed to diplomacy.
The recent reports of the Director General (GOV/2025/50–53) confirm that the suspension of inspections was a direct consequence of these armed attacks. The responsibility lies entirely with the aggressors, not with the victim. No safeguards provision currently addresses how to maintain engagement under conditions of armed aggression and continuing threats. A new framework is therefore required to ensure the safety of nuclear personnel and facilities under such extraordinary circumstances.
In a constructive spirit, Iran and the Agency signed a memorandum of understanding in Cairo on 9 September 2025 aimed at addressing these challenges. Unfortunately, this positive development was immediately undermined by the hostile actions of the United States and the E3, who continue to block every diplomatic initiative, including the balanced proposal by China and Russia in the Security Council.
The E3’s invocation of the so-called snapback mechanism, an illegal, reckless act aimed at destroying the last bridge to diplomacy, is null and void. Having themselves violated the JCPOA and Resolution 2231, they have no legal standing to invoke its provisions. Resolution 2231 expired permanently on 18 October 2025, and all related restrictions are terminated. Any attempt to revive or enforce them is an illegal abuse of process and must be rejected by this Assembly and by the Secretary-General.
Iran will never yield to threats or coercion. We respond only to respect, legality, and equality. Military aggression and economic terrorism will not compel Iran to abandon its legitimate rights.
IRNA