Iran says no threat to UN nuclear watchdog chief, inspectors after call for execution

Iran said Sunday it posed no threat to the head of the UN nuclear watchdog and its inspectors after an Iranian newspaper called for the execution of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi.

“No, there is not any threat” against the inspectors or the director general, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said in an interview with US broadcaster CBS when asked about calls in an ultra-conservative newspaper for the agency’s chief to be executed as a spy.

The ambassador said inspectors in Iran were “in safe conditions.”

On Saturday, Argentina condemned what it said were threats against Argentine Grossi after Iran rejected his request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the United States.

Tehran has accused Grossi of “betrayal of his duties” for not condemning the Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites this month, and Iranian lawmakers voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA which he leads.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that “Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent.”

Iran has said it believes an IAEA resolution on June 12 that accused Iran of ignoring its nuclear obligations served as an “excuse” for the 12-day war Israel launched on June 13.