Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

Moscow, June 26 (RHC)-- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Western leaders pressured the UN nuclear agency chief, Rafael Grossi, to publish an accusatory report on Iran’s nuclear program ahead of the Israeli regime’s aggression against the country.

European leaders exerted pressure on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to issue a negative assessment of Iran, and so they “bear a share of the blame” for Israel’s aggression, Lavrov said at the Primakov Forums meeting in Moscow on Tuesday.

“The Europeans have taken a purely neocolonial position... They were actively preparing Grossi so that he would put the most ambiguously negative formulations into his report,” he said.

The UK, France, Germany, and later, the US ran with the IAEA assessment and pushed a resolution through the IAEA Board of Governors that condemned Iran for allegedly violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he added.

Based on Grossi’s politically-motivated reports, the IAEA Board of Governors passed an anti-Iran resolution on June 12, claiming that the country is in breach of its nuclear obligations, despite Iran saying its uranium enrichment program is entirely peaceful.

Shortly after the resolution was passed, Israel carried out multiple acts of aggression on Iranian territory, targeting high-ranking military commanders, nuclear scientists, and ordinary civilians. The Natanz nuclear facility was also among the sites struck.

On Sunday, the US bombed the Natanz, Fordow, and Esfahan nuclear sites in violation of the United Nations Charter, international law and the NPT.

Grossi failed to condemn the aggressions, drawing criticisms from Iranian officials.  Tehran has since complained against Grossi for taking sides and turning a blind eye to Israel’s aggression on Iran’s nuclear energy facilities. Multiple IAEA resolutions state that any use of force against peaceful nuclear facilities is illegal under international law.

This highlights that the West “exerts very serious influence on international organizations, and has even privatized them to an extent,” Lavrov said, adding that most such bodies are no longer “guided by the requirement of impartiality.”

IAEA inspections of Iranian facilities could be leaked to public

Lavrov further warned that if the IAEA is allowed to inspect Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, the concern is that this information could be leaked, as there are no confidentiality safeguards in place now.

"IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi could have provided a more precise report," Lavrov said, adding that he is now “insisting that Iran grant the agency immediate access to its nuclear facilities to verify the whereabouts of enriched materials and assess the situation on the ground.”

“But where are the assurances that this information won’t be leaked? I see no such safeguards.”

[ SOURCE:  RT and NEWS AGENCIES ]