Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has raised serious concerns over growing Israeli threats to launch a strike on Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities, cautioning that such an action could trigger a “catastrophic” escalation.
Israel has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure should ongoing US-Iran negotiations collapse. Despite tensions between the two regional rivals, former US President Donald Trump has reportedly urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid any military action that might derail diplomatic efforts aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Grossi, speaking to the Financial Times, said the situation carries immense risk: “The Iranian thing has incredible potential to become catastrophic. If there is a failure in negotiation, this will imply most probably military action.”
He emphasized that Iran’s most sensitive nuclear infrastructure is deeply fortified: “The most sensitive things are half a mile underground – I have been there many times. To get there you take a spiral tunnel down, down, down.”
While Grossi confirmed that Iran does not currently possess a nuclear weapon, he noted that the country has amassed enough enriched material to be of concern.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with Egypt’s Nile News, reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program is entirely peaceful and aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s religious decree banning nuclear arms. “It is unthinkable for Tehran to violate this fatwa,” Araghchi said.
However, he also insisted that any deal must preserve Iran’s right to domestic enrichment: “No enrichment, no deal. No nuclear weapons, we have a deal,” he said during a separate statement on Wednesday.
During his presidency, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 UN-endorsed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had limited Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief. In response, Iran gradually expanded its enrichment efforts.
Israel, which sees Iran’s nuclear ambitions as an existential threat, has continued to demand a full halt to all enrichment activities.
Tensions between the two nations—locked in a decades-long shadow conflict—intensified dramatically in 2023 amid the Gaza war and have already resulted in direct missile exchanges on two occasions last year.
