Alleged Israeli use of Azerbaijan airspace roils Iran’s politics

"The so-called snapback mechanism has no legal or political basis," Baghaei said during his weekly press briefing. "In light of recent developments, resorting to such a mechanism is more unfounded than ever and lacks any legal, political, or ethical justification."

Baghaei stressed that Iran still considers itself a signatory of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite reducing its commitments in response to what he described as "blatant violations" by the United States and European parties. The US pulled out of the 2015 agreement in 2018 under President Donald Trump's first administration.

“Our reduction of commitments was a response one year after the illegal withdrawal of the US from the JCPOA,” he said. “The European parties themselves also violated their obligations under the deal and failed to act accordingly. Therefore, they have no standing to invoke the mechanism.” He did not elaborate on how the EU violated the deal.

He said the move to activate the snapback clause, originally embedded in UN Security Council Resolution 2231, was "just an instrument of political pressure" and "will be met with a proportionate and appropriate response by Iran."

He dismissed the European threats as lacking "any legal justification" and said, "They must be held accountable for the consequences of their own failures. If they had adhered to their commitments honestly, today’s situation would have been different.”

Earlier in June, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said, “France, together with its European partners, can, with a simple letter, reimpose a global embargo on weapons, nuclear equipment, and banking and insurance sectors in Iran, which were lifted 10 years ago.”

Under UN Security Council Resolution 2231, any current JCPOA party—France, Germany, the UK, Russia, or China—can file a non-compliance complaint. If no resolution to maintain sanctions relief is adopted within 30 days, all previous UN sanctions automatically snap back, including cargo inspections, arms embargoes, and missile-related restrictions.

Iran accuses Germany of double standards

The spokesman also criticized Germany and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), alleging selective enforcement of nuclear non-proliferation obligations and supporting Israeli military actions.

“Germany’s hosting of US nuclear weapons is in clear violation of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” Baghaei stated. “We know that a significant number of US nuclear warheads are stationed in Germany, which itself is enough to show a breach of international commitments.”

He added, “Despite this, we witness Germany taking an incorrect stance and supporting violations of international law by backing Israeli military actions. This support carries international responsibility.”

Just days after Iran expelled the UN watchdog, Baghaei also accused the IAEA of "instrumental and selective behavior" in addressing nuclear issues, saying the agency has become part of a broader political toolset, in particular, giving information to the US and Israel which Iran says helped strikes launched against Iran's nuclear facilities last month.

Iran also criticized the IAEA for not condoning the strikes on the country's three main nuclear facilities. “The peaceful nuclear facilities of Iran are being targeted militarily, while the agency remains silent on clear violations by other countries,” he said.

On reports of Russia allegedly pushing Iran to agree to "zero enrichment" levels, Baghaei called the claims “fabricated” and aimed at “damaging Iran’s ties with its partners.” He said that “Russia knows well that Iran makes independent decisions regarding its nuclear policy, and they have always respected that.”

No date for talks, no proposals from allies

Regarding the resumption of nuclear negotiations, Baghaei said no time or location has been set for future talks but confirmed ongoing consultations with China and Russia.

“We maintain strategic relations with both countries and are in close contact with them,” he said. “While no specific proposals have been presented, both China and Russia have consistently expressed readiness to help resolve the nuclear issue.”

He cited “positive discussions” between Iranian and Russian officials during the recent BRICS summit and added that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had traveled to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization ministerial meeting for continued consultations.

On reports that China or Norway may act as new intermediaries in nuclear negotiations, Baghaei said such rumors were “just speculation and cannot be confirmed.”

Diplomacy still an option, but not at any cost

When asked about Iran’s conditions for returning to talks, Baghaei said, “We are serious about diplomacy and have entered negotiations with good faith. However, before the sixth round of talks, the Zionist regime, in coordination with the United States, carried out a military aggression against Iran.”

He emphasized that Iran would not re-enter negotiations “until there is confidence in the effectiveness of diplomacy.”

“Diplomacy is a tool and an opportunity,” he said. “We are not allowed to deprive ourselves of this tool to explain Iran’s position and defend our national interests. Just as the armed forces are fulfilling their duty to defend the country, the diplomatic apparatus must do the same through diplomacy.”

Damage to Fordow still under review

Baghaei said that assessments of damage to Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, targeted by US bombs just before the ceasefire with Israel last month, are still ongoing due to the "scale and type of the strikes."

He also responded to a recent joint statement by the UK, France, and Germany condemning Iran's retaliatory strike on the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for the three European countries to justify the aggression of the Zionist regime and question Iran’s legitimate defensive response,” he said. “These statements are baseless and not worth responding to.”

The members of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, many of whom are senior religious scholars in Iran’s influential Shi’ite seminaries, said they were endorsing a fatwa which declared those who threaten religious authority figures – including the Supreme Leader – fall into the category of mohareb and must face the corresponding religious and legal consequences.

The clerics did not cite a specific decree, referring only to a “sensitive, historic, and courageous fatwa” by senior religious authorities in Qom and Najaf. Two recent fatwas by Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani and Nasser Makarem Shirazi align with this description. The fatwas were issued in response to remarks by Israeli officials about assassinating Ali Khamenei.

“The Supreme Leadership and the institution of religious authority are symbols of the dignity of the Islamic Ummah,” the clerics said in the statement published by the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency. “Threats against them are threats against the foundations of Islam itself.”

“This fatwa is necessary and timely,” the Qom-based clerics wrote. “Defense of religious leadership is a duty for all Muslims.”

The signatories include prominent figures such as Ahmad Khatami and Alireza Arafi, both members of Iran’s Guardian Council, as well as senior clerics from the Qom seminary, many of whom hold official or semi-official posts in Iran’s establishment.

Iran has a history of issuing religious rulings with international consequences, most notably the 1989 fatwa by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for the killing of British author Salman Rushdie. That fatwa remained in place for decades and was widely cited after a 2022 knife attack on Rushdie in New York.

Grossi in crosshairs

In their joint statement, the clerics called for the prosecution of several international figures, including US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, accusing them of being “war criminals” complicit in attacks on Iranian leadership and infrastructure.

“We demand that international courts try and punish Grossi, Trump, Netanyahu, and all those who have betrayed humanity,” the clerics said.

The call for prosecuting Grossi comes amid growing hostility between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog following the recent Iran-Israel war.

Iranian authorities have accused Grossi and the IAEA of facilitating attacks on Iranian nuclear sites through what they call “deceptive inspections” and “intelligence sharing” with hostile governments.

“The IAEA has acted not as a neutral body but as a tool of Western espionage,” said cleric-turned-lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian last week, alleging that inspectors had smuggled surveillance equipment into nuclear facilities. “They are spies disguised as inspectors, and Mr. Grossi is fully complicit.”

On Wednesday, Ali Mozaffari, deputy head of Iran’s judiciary, said Iran was considering trying Grossi in absentia for allegedly enabling Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Mozaffari said the judiciary was compiling evidence of “foreign aggression” and would pursue legal remedies.

Hardline media outlets, including Kayhan newspaper — closely aligned with Khamenei — have called for Grossi’s arrest and even his execution should he travel to Iran.

Western governments have condemned the threats against Grossi. Britain, France, and Germany released a joint statement last month expressing “full support for the independence and impartiality of the IAEA” and warning Tehran against politicizing the agency’s work.

The Revolutionary Guards-linked Fars News Agency said the attacked was launched on the morning of Monday, June 16, while a session of the Supreme National Security Council was underway in the lower floors of the building in western Tehran.

President Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Judiciary chief Mohseni Ejei and other senior officials were attending the meeting, the report said.

Six bombs or missiles targeted the building’s entry and exit points in order to block escape routes and disrupt airflow, Fars News said, adding that the attack was modeled after an operation designed to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.

Following the explosions, power to the floor was cut, but the officials managed to escape through an emergency hatch that had been prepared in advance, the report said.

President Pezeshkian and some other officials sustained minor leg injuries while exiting, the outlet said.

Given the accuracy of the information used in the attack, the report said authorities are investigating the possibility of an infiltrator.

While the report did not specify the location of the meeting, the Israeli airstrike is believed to have targeted a building in Tehran’s Shahrak-e Bagheri district on June 16.

A few days ago, senior IRGC general Mohsen Rezaei told the state TV that Israel “struck six points at the location where the Supreme National Security Council was meeting, but not the slightest harm was done to any of its members.”

President Pezeshkian earlier accused Israel of trying to assassinate him. "They did try, yes," he told Tucker Carlson in an interview. "They acted accordingly, but they failed."

“Death to America” has long been a staple: painted on walls, printed on billboards, shouted from pulpits. So too “Death to Israel”, which has grown louder after unrelenting Israeli strikes.

“They bombed a building to kill a commander, and scores of his neighbors were also killed,” one user on X wrote, justifying the chant’s resurgence.

Sometimes, the slogans extend to “Death to England” or France. Germany, despite official anger at its nuclear stance, is spared—not for politics, but for lack of a poetic rhyme in Persian.

At times, the death wishes border on the absurd.

A video once showed an elderly deaf man shouting “David, David Oo-Es-Ah” during a protest in Tehran. Asked what “David” meant, he replied, “David means death!”—a misheard version of “Down with USA.”

In the 1990s, after a man in Denmark burned a Quran, angry crowds in Tehran responded with chants of “Death to Denmark” and torched a popular Danish pastry shop, baffling local shopkeepers.

More recently, a city council member in Rasht called on Israel to assassinate Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. The call was so bizarre it drew public ridicule as well as official anger. The councillor later claimed it was a joke.

But some threats aren’t laughed off.

In Qom, senior clerics have openly called on Muslims to kill US president Donald Trump. Though some in Tehran insist these figures don’t speak for the state, one mid-level cleric placed a millions-dollar bounty on Trump and Netanyahu—remarks aired uncensored on state TV.

The rage may stem from Trump’s mockery of supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s claim of victory in the war with Israel. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi even urged US officials to stop Trump from “insulting the Supreme Leader.”

Khamenei’s adviser Ali Larijani and his brother Mohammad Javad—former parliament speaker and human rights chief respectively—have both issued assassination threats against Trump and France’s Emmanuel Macron.

President Pezeshkian tried to downplay the chants in an interview with Tucker Carlson, arguing they weren’t aimed at the American people or their leaders. But his response felt tone-deaf, failing to acknowledge how offensive these slogans are.

Some argue that hardliners are deliberately stoking these flames to damage the new government and block diplomacy.

“This conduct could prove costly,” conservative analyst Abbas Salimi Namin warned in an interview with Khabar Online on July 9. “State TV must act responsibly... and avoid giving airtime to radicals and troublemakers,” he added.

The reformist website Rouydad24 echoed that concern the same day.

“Radicals fear the national unity forged during and after the war with Israel,” the outlet said in an editorial. “They oppose dialogue and seek to monopolize power. They will stop at nothing to tarnish the government’s image.”

Taeb was Ali Khamenei’s representative at Sarallah Headquarters, one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ most critical domestic security commands—and a target of Israeli strikes during the recent conflict.

Ali Taeb’s brothers—Hossein Taeb and Mehdi Taeb—are two of the most influential operatives in the Islamic Republic establishment.

Hossein served as the long-time head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO), directly under the control of the Supreme Leader. Known for his ruthlessness, clerical ties, and proximity to Mojtaba Khamenei, Hossein was widely viewed as one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic—until his ousting in 2022.

Ali Taeb’s role at Sarallah Headquarters placed him at the heart of Tehran’s security response to unrest and foreign threats. That position—and his familial ties to Hossein and Mehdi Taeb—make his sudden death significant.

According to Iranian state media, Ali Taeb was a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War and a deeply embedded cleric in the Islamic Republic’s ideological apparatus.

Though he originally studied mechanical engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology, he was reportedly persuaded by leading clerics such as Ayatollah Bahjat and Allameh Tabatabaei to enter the seminary. Early in his religious studies, he operated under an alias while evading the Shah’s intelligence services.

He later rose through the ranks of the IRGC, serving as deputy head of propaganda during the war, commander of the Ramadan Base, and head of the Motahari University in Qom.

He held multiple top roles including advisor to the Joint Chiefs of the IRGC, president of the Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans in Qom, and director of Al-Mustafa International University.

He was also a member of the board of trustees at the Noor Computer Research Center and ran the Ghadir Information Center.