Russian FM warns new IAEA inspections of Iran can lead to sensitive leaks
The Cradle, June 25, 2025 —
The Russian foreign minister says western governments have ‘effectively privatized’ international institutions, undermining their neutrality and credibility.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on 24 June warned that any new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of Iranian nuclear sites could result in leaked intelligence, adding that the agency currently operates with no confidentiality safeguards in place.
Speaking at the Primakov Readings forum in Moscow, Lavrov criticized IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi for pressuring Iran to allow renewed access to its nuclear facilities.
“He is now insisting that Iran grant the agency immediate access … but where are the assurances that this information won’t be leaked? I see no such safeguards,” Lavrov said.
He added that international bodies were increasingly subject to manipulation by western powers, “The west is exerting serious influence over the secretariats of international organizations. In some cases, it’s as though they have been effectively privatized.”
Lavrov’s remarks came one day before Iran’s parliament formally approved a bill to halt cooperation with the IAEA, following a 12-day Israeli war that Tehran says the agency enabled by supplying intelligence to Tel Aviv.
“The IAEA, which refused to even marginally condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, has put its international credibility up for auction,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said during the 25 June vote.
There have been contradictory reports on the extent of the damage to the Iranian nuclear facilities.
Initially, various Iranian officials claimed that the facilities were barely affected.
However, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) confirmed that its facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan were heavily damaged by Israeli and US airstrikes during the war, including direct hits by US B-2 bombers using GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs. All enriched uranium was reportedly evacuated from these sites in advance.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei also told Al Jazeera that Israeli and US airstrikes caused significant damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities. “Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure, because it has come under repeated attacks by Israeli and American aggressors.”
On the other hand, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the FBI is probing a leaked intel report indicating that Iran’s nuclear facilities were not “completely destroyed” in Washington’s recent attack, as US President Donald Trump claimed.
Additionally, Israeli sources who spoke with ABC News said that the outcome looks “really not good.”
Yet Trump doubled down on his claims, stressing that the Iranian nuclear facilities were “obliterated.”
The Israeli war effort began one day after the IAEA board accused Iran of non-compliance under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Tehran has since accused Grossi of passing sensitive Iranian nuclear data to Israel, and said it would pursue legal action against him.
Russian UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council last week that the agency’s own reports contained “no evidence indicating the development of nuclear weapons by Iran,” calling western accusations a “pretext for attack.”
He added that “nowhere in the IAEA reports is there any mention of Iran converting its nuclear stockpiles for undeclared or military purposes.”