Iran IAEA Envoy Says Commitment to NPT Contingent Upon Developments

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Al Mayadeen that Tehran’s continued commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is contingent upon how events unfold in the wake of "Israeli" strikes.

“The entity bears full responsibility for any step toward withdrawing from the NPT,” the Iranian delegate said.

Speaking to journalists following the emergency session of the IAEA Board of Governors, the representative warned the agency against repeating its earlier inaction. “I urge the Board not to let its preliminary failure to prevent this aggression be followed by another,” he stated.

He called on the board to take “strong and effective action,” urging it to “condemn this act of aggression in the strongest possible terms, and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

"Failing to do so would amount to appeasement of an aggressive entity, one that is, in fact, committing genocide and deludes itself into thinking Iran is incapable of defending itself," Iran's IAEA representative asserted.

The Iranian envoy further stressed that "Israel" deliberately struck civilian infrastructure, saying it “targeted residential areas, hospitals, and schools, resulting in the martyrdom of over 200 civilians, most of whom were innocent women and children, and injuring more than 1,000 others.”

“Iran has responded with full force,” he said, affirming that the country is exercising its “inherent right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter.” He concluded firmly, “The era of striking without consequences is over.”