Gharibabadi: Attacks on Safeguarded Nuclear Sites Are a "Most Serious Crime" Threatening Global Non-Proliferation

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's Deputy for International and Legal Affairs, condemned the recent US-Israeli military strikes on Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities as a "most serious crime" that threatens the very foundation of the global non-proliferation regime. Speaking at the "International Law Under Assault" conference on a panel titled “Nuclear Non-Proliferation at Risk: Prevailing Trends and Discourses," he argued that the attacks on facilities under IAEA safeguards represent a blatant violation of international law and expose a dangerous double standard in how global powers apply legal norms.

Gharibabadi asserted that the global non-proliferation regime is built on the "inviolability of nuclear installations that are under the surveillance and verification activities of the agency." He emphasized that all of Iran's facilities targeted by Israel and the United States were fully under IAEA comprehensive safeguards, making the aggression a direct assault on the UN Charter and numerous resolutions by the IAEA and the UN Security Council that explicitly prohibit such attacks.

He contrasted the strong international condemnation of attacks on nuclear facilities in Ukraine with the silence following the aggression against Iran. "Everybody kept quiet, they kept silence," he stated. "They haven't condemned the attack against Iran's safeguarded nuclear activities." He noted that Western powers even blocked a resolution on the matter from proceeding at the IAEA General Conference, proving that "politics works here, not the legal foundations."

Gharibabadi also detailed the hypocrisy of the situation, pointing out that one aggressor, Israel, is not a party to any arms control treaty and possesses nuclear weapons, while the other, the United States, is a nuclear-armed state. He criticized the post-attack pressure on Iran for more cooperation, calling the demand to inspect the damaged facilities disingenuous. "They have attacked, now they want to see the damages," he said, explaining that allowing inspectors access is impossible due to safety and security risks.

He concluded by dismissing the decades-old accusation that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon as a "ridiculous" pretext. "The regime that has claimed that Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb is more than three decades that they are talking regarding Iran's fantasy nuclear bomb. But where is that so-called bomb?" he asked, arguing the claim is merely a tool to "divert international public opinion."