Israel ‘Reserves the Right to Act Against Iran

The snap visit by IAEA's Rafael Grossi comes as Israel expresses mounting concerns about Iran's nuclear activities, and ahead of a meeting of the UN watchdog's board

Israel's Prime Minister Bennett and IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, on Friday.Credit: Kobi Gideon / GOP

Israel ‘Reserves the Right to Act Against Iran’, Bennett Tells Nuclear Watchdog Chief

HAARETZ- June 3rd 2022

Jonathan Lis

Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told the UN nuclear watchdog on Friday that Israel would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the standoff over the Iranian nuclear program but could take independent action, an Israeli statement said.

“Israel reserves the right to self-defense and action against Iran to stop its nuclear program if the international community fails to do so within the relevant time-frame,” it quoted Bennett as telling International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director Rafael Grossi, who arrived in Israel on Thursday for talks.

The snap visit, which Grossi said was at Israel’s request, comes as the state expresses mounting concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities and any return to the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and world powers.

“I stressed the importance of … the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),” The Director-General of the IAEA Rafael Grossi said in a tweet following the meeting with Bennett.

Israel is not a signatory to the nuclear treaty. Iran is, but concerns over its compliance with it persist.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Grossi’s visit to Israel is in conflict with his agency’s “impartiality,” the Islamic Republic’s state media reported. He said that any Western move made against Tehran in the IAEA will be met by Iran’s “immediate response.”

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