No Evidence of Iran Building Nuclear Bomb, Says IAEA

In a post on X, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said, “I have been very clear and consistent in my reports on Iran's nuclear programme: while there has been no evidence of Iran building a nuclear bomb, its large stockpile of near-weapons grade enriched uranium and refusal to grant my inspectors full access are cause for serious concern.”

“For these reasons, my previous reports indicate that unless and until Iran assists the IAEA in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues, the Agency will not be in a position to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful,” he added.

Earlier, in an interview with CNN, Grossi said the IAEA had no indication of a structured or systematic programme to build a nuclear weapon.

“While there are many elements there that were of serious concern — accumulation, unjustified accumulation of huge amounts of almost military-grade material, lack of transparency in inspections, and so on — we never had information indicating that there was a structured, systematic program to build, to construct a nuclear weapon,” he said.

“So we have to balance the two things. Yes, many reasons for concern, but there wasn't to be a bomb tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Obviously, countries — and that is the case for the United States or Israel, and perhaps others — may have the impression that all these activities are aimed directly and straight into the manufacturing of a nuclear weapon. We from the IAEA are not in the business of judging intentions. But yes, there were reasons for concern, though these timelines are perhaps a bit subjective,” he told CNN.

Grossi’s remarks come even as US President Donald Trump claimed that without the recent strikes, Iran would soon have obtained nuclear weapons. Trump described the Iranian regime as “crazy people” who would have used a nuclear weapon if they had access to one.

“If we didn't do what we're doing right now, you would've had a nuclear war and they would've taken out many countries because you know what? They're sick people. They're mentally ill, sick people. They're angry. They're crazy. They're sick. These people are crazy — and if they had a nuclear weapon, they would've used it,” Trump said at a news conference on Tuesday night (local time).

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also defended the strikes, saying the world would be safer if Iranian leaders were denied access to weapons of mass destruction.

“Iran is run by lunatics, religious fanatic lunatics. They have an ambition to have nuclear weapons. They intend to develop those nuclear weapons behind a program of missiles and drones and terrorism that the world will not be able to touch them for fear of those things. And this is the weakest they've ever been. Now is the time to go after them,” Rubio said.

“The President made the decision to go after them, take away their missiles, take away their navy, take away their drones, take away their ability to make those things, so that they can never have a nuclear weapon. That's why the President made this decision. It was the right decision and the world will be a safer place when these radical clerics no longer have access to these weapons,” he added.

The conflict in the Middle East has now entered its fifth day following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that reportedly killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with other key figures. In retaliation, Tehran has launched counter-strikes targeting American military bases and Israeli assets across the region.