The report “with its deliberately alarmist tone, gave Israel an additional reason to launch the operation, justifying it, among other things, by the IAEA’s allegations”, Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
The IAEA Board of Governors passed an anti-Iran resolution on June 12, a day before the regime launched its unprovoked aggression against the Islamic Republic, claiming that Iran was in breach of its nuclear obligations.
The resolution drafted “under intense pressure” from the UK, France, Germany, and later, the US, “was based on the report’s omissions or excessive hints from (IAEA) Director General (Rafael) Grossi,” Lavrov said.
“A lot of the language in this report was ambiguous, which was immediately seized upon by these four Western countries,” he added.
In his earlier remarks, Lavrov said that the European leaders exerted pressure on the IAEA to issue a negative assessment of Iran, so they “bear a share of the blame” for Israel’s aggression.
The top Russian diplomat described the move as “purely neocolonial,” saying the UK, France, Germany, and later, the US, were actively instrumentalizing the agency to publish a report aimed at passing an anti-Iran resolution.
Lavrov also warned that if the IAEA is allowed to inspect Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, the concern is that this information could be leaked, as there are no confidentiality safeguards in place now.
For his part, Grossi has failed to condemn the US and Israeli aggression, drawing sharp criticism from Iranian officials.
Tehran has since complained against Grossi for taking sides and turning a blind eye to Israel’s aggression on Iran’s nuclear energy facilities.
Multiple IAEA resolutions state that any use of force against peaceful nuclear facilities is illegal under international law.
