TEHRAN- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has sharply criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Director General, Rafael Grossi, accusing them of undermining the agency’s independence and turning its technical assessments into a basis for political pressure and justification for military action against Iran.

In a post on X, Baqaei said the IAEA Director General had transformed an institution whose authority was founded on “technical expertise, impartiality, and independence” into a link in a chain connecting technical reporting to political justification and, ultimately, war.

His remarks came shortly after the IAEA Board of Governors voted to refer Iran’s nuclear file to the United Nations Security Council over alleged non-compliance with its safeguards' obligations.

The resolution, introduced by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, was adopted on September 9 by 23 votes in favor, three against and eight abstentions. Russia, China and Niger voted against the measure. 

Baqaei argued that the development illustrated the growing politicization of an institution that is supposed to operate as an impartial technical body.

“When IAEA reports become raw material for threat narratives and for the construction of a political and legal case against a country,” he wrote, “the line between technical oversight and laying the groundwork for military aggression becomes dangerously blurred.”

The Iranian spokesman said the issue went beyond reputational damage to the agency or its director general, warning that the IAEA’s most valuable asset—its credibility as an impartial and independent authority—was being squandered.

“Once that credibility is subordinated to political agendas,” Baqaei said, “the Agency risks becoming an instrument for rationalizing and facilitating aggression.”

He described such a development as a “profound institutional failure,” arguing that the agency had effectively become involved in the political preparation of an unlawful war.

Baqaei further accused the IAEA of contributing to a political process serving the interests and ambitions of a “genocidal regime,” a reference to Israel, which Iran has repeatedly accused of obstructing efforts to establish a West Asia free of weapons of mass destruction.

“An institution entrusted with contributing to international peace and security should never become part of the machinery used to manufacture a pretext for war,” he said.

The Iranian spokesman also rejected the notion that responsibility for aggression and war crimes should be confined solely to those who order or physically carry out military attacks. In his view, accountability must also encompass actors whose actions knowingly contribute to the political, legal or evidentiary foundations used to justify military action.

He warned that those who present disputed assessments as authoritative grounds for coercive measures cannot simply distance themselves from the consequences of such actions.

Baqaei’s comments came amid a sharp escalation in the dispute between Iran and the IAEA following the Board of Governors’ latest resolution. Iran has rejected the resolution as politically motivated and without a sound legal basis, while maintaining that its nuclear program is peaceful.

Western governments, meanwhile, claim that Iran has failed to provide the agency with sufficient access and information concerning its nuclear activities.

The latest vote has added a new layer to an already deeply strained relationship between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog, with Iran warning that the politicization of the IAEA could ultimately undermine confidence in the international nuclear safeguards system itself.