TEHRAN — Fifteen countries, including Iran, China and Russia, have called for a clear and unequivocal prohibition on attacks or threats of attack against peaceful nuclear facilities operating under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, warning that silence over such actions could undermine international law and erode the credibility of the global nuclear safeguards regime.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday during the 70th General Conference of the IAEA in Vienna, the 15 countries stressed that nuclear facilities devoted to peaceful purposes and subject to international safeguards must never be targeted or threatened with attack.
They called on all IAEA member states to adopt a firm and unified position against such actions and to protect peaceful nuclear activities while safeguarding the credibility and integrity of the Agency’s safeguards system.
The statement was endorsed by Belarus, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe.
The countries warned that failure to respond to attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities would undermine established international norms and weaken the international legal order. They further cautioned that silence could contribute to the normalization of actions that pose serious risks to nuclear safety and security, as well as to human life and the environment.
Iran pushes for ‘zero-tolerance’ policy
The joint statement came as Iran stepped up calls at the IAEA General Conference for the international community to adopt a “zero-tolerance policy” toward attacks on peaceful nuclear installations.
Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said on Thursday that no political or military justification should be accepted for attacks against nuclear facilities.
“The international community must adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward any attack or threat against peaceful nuclear facilities,” Najafi said, stressing that no attack on nuclear installations should be tolerated.
Iran has made the protection of safeguarded nuclear facilities a major issue in international forums following attacks on its nuclear infrastructure.
The statement carries particular significance for Iran following military strikes against several of the country’s nuclear facilities.
According to IAEA documents, Israeli attacks between June 13 and 24, 2025 affected several Iranian nuclear facilities, while the United States subsequently carried out strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites on June 22. The attacks led the IAEA to suspend its field verification and monitoring activities in Iran and withdraw its inspectors for safety reasons.
The 15-country statement places the protection of nuclear facilities within the broader debate over the future of the international safeguards regime.
Safeguards intend to provide assurances that nuclear material and activities covered by agreements with the IAEA are not diverted from peaceful purposes. Any military attack that damages safeguarded facilities, disrupts inspections or creates conditions in which inspectors cannot safely operate can therefore have consequences extending beyond the targeted country.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful and has called for disputes over its nuclear activities to be addressed through diplomatic and legal mechanisms rather than military action.
The joint statement by the 15 countries also comes as the IAEA’s 70th General Conference concludes in Vienna amid heightened international concern over attacks involving nuclear facilities. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his message to the conference, warned that attacks on nuclear facilities were increasing and stressed the need for member states to uphold international law and strengthen the safeguards system.
For Tehran, the statement represents a call for a broader international consensus that the protection of peaceful nuclear installations must remain a fundamental principle regardless of political disputes between states.
The 15 countries’ warning that silence could normalize attacks against safeguarded facilities also places the issue beyond Iran’s nuclear dispute with Western countries, framing the protection of nuclear installations as a wider question of international law, nuclear safety and the credibility of the global non-proliferation architecture.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: tehrantimes.com
