Netanyahu Rebuffs IAEA Chief’s Remarks against Possible Attack on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem , 05 March 2023. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem , 05 March 2023. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Rebuffs IAEA Chief’s Remarks against Possible Attack on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem , 05 March 2023. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) chairs the weekly cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem , 05 March 2023. (EPA)

Israel rebuffed as "unworthy" on Sunday comments by the UN nuclear watchdog chief that any Israeli or US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would be illegal.

Having visited Tehran in a bid to loosen deadlocked talks on renewing its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, International Atomic Energy Agency chairman Raphael Grossi on Saturday said "any military attack on nuclear facilities is outlawed".

He was responding to a reporter's question about threats by Israel and the United States to attack Iran's nuclear facilities if they deem diplomacy meant to deny it the bomb to be at a dead end. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

"Rafael Grossi is a worthy person who made an unworthy remark," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks on Sunday.

"Outside what law? Is it permissible for Iran, which openly calls for our destruction, to organize the tools of slaughter for our destruction? Are we forbidden from defending ourselves? We are obviously permitted to do this."

The IAEA said on Saturday Grossi had received sweeping assurances from Iran that it will assist a long-stalled investigation into uranium particles found at undeclared sites and re-install removed monitoring equipment.



Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

 People walk past a state-sponsored anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP)
People walk past a state-sponsored anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP)
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Iran Says It Obtained Sensitive Israeli Nuclear Documents

 People walk past a state-sponsored anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP)
People walk past a state-sponsored anti-US mural painted on the wall of the former US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP)

Iranian intelligence agencies have obtained a large trove of sensitive Israeli documents, some related to the nuclear plans and facilities of Tehran's arch enemy, Iran's state media reported on Saturday.

There was no immediate official comment from Israel and it was not clear whether the report was linked to a reported hacking of an Israeli nuclear research center last year that Tehran is choosing to divulge now amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

"Although the operation to obtain the documents was carried out some time ago, the sheer volume of materials and the need to transport them safely into Iran necessitated a news blackout to ensure they reached the designated protected locations," state-run PressTV reported, quoting unnamed sources.

"(Sources familiar with the matter) also noted that the abundance of documents is so vast that reviewing them, along with viewing images and videos, has consumed a significant amount of time," PressTV added, without giving details of the documents.

In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israeli agents had seized a huge "archive" of Iranian documents showing Tehran had done more nuclear work than previously known.

USPresident Donald Trump has threatened Iran with bombing if Tehran did not come to an agreement with Washington over its nuclear program. But Trump in April reportedly blocked a planned Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that abandoning uranium enrichment was "100%" against the country's interests, rejecting a central US demand in talks to resolve a decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.