IAEA chief warns of potential backlash from Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stated that Iranians told him that an Israeli assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities may make Iran more determined to obtain a nuclear weapon, in an interview which was broadcast and published on Monday.

“A strike could potentially have an amalgamating effect, solidifying Iran’s determination – I will say it plainly – to pursue a nuclear weapon or withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Grossi said in an interview published on the Jerusalem Post website and aired on i24 TV on Monday.

However, according to the Jerusalem Post, Grossi did not believe that Israel would attack Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

Grossi told the Jerusalem Post that the Iranian nuclear program “runs wide and deep”. He also added that “disrupting them would require overwhelming and devastating force.”

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Tehran and Washington recently had nuclear negotiations, which were mediated by Oman. Iran is preparing to send a counter-proposal for a nuclear agreement to the United States via Oman, Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, in response to an “unacceptable” US offer.

Last week, US President Donald Trump stated he advised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to take any moves that may jeopardise nuclear talks with Iran.

“I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “That could change at any moment.”

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