By Kayhan Life Staff
Islamic Republic Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is challenging international assessments that radiation risks remain minimal at several Iranian nuclear facilities bombed during last year’s 12-day war, even as the theocratic state continues to deny International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to the sites.
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Shortly after the strikes on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan complexes, the IAEA said it had detected “no increase in radiation levels outside these facilities.”
Five months after the ceasefire, however, Araghchi claimed the attacks had created “serious dangers,” including possible radiation exposure and unexploded ordnance. “We are now facing security threats and safety concerns,” he told Japan’s Kyodo News, describing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program as “peaceful.
Authorities refused to evacuate surrounding towns after the strikes, dismissing public anxieties about potential contamination. Alireza Raeisi, a deputy health minister, insisted that uranium enrichment does not release dangerous radiation because it does not involve nuclear fission. “There is no need to take iodine tablets near Natanz and Fordow,” he said. He added that repeated tests showed the sites were “completely safe.” The IAEA issued similar findings on June 12, reporting no rise in radiation levels at Natanz.
Araghchi also defended refusing to allow inspectors back into the damaged facilities, arguing that “there is no protocol or guideline” for inspecting bombed nuclear sites. He suggested that talks with the United States could resume if Washington adopts a “logic of confidence-building” and lifts sanctions. Any agreement, he insisted, must recognize the Islamic Republic’s “right to enrichment.”
The agency has warned that its inability to monitor the Iranian regime’s nuclear stockpile undermines oversight. On Oct. 19, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that most of the enriched uranium is stored at Isfahan, Fordow, and Natanz—sites that inspectors cannot currently access. On Oct. 29, he reported observing “unusual activity” around the uranium-storage locations.
Despite repeated IAEA requests and pressure from Western governments, the Islamic Republic has not reopened any of the facilities to international inspectors.
