The country faces conditions similar to wartime following Israeli and US airstrikes on its nuclear facilities, Iran’s nuclear chief said on Wednesday, warning that inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency would not fully resume without new safeguards.
“This is the first time in history that safeguarded nuclear facilities have come under military attack,” Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said in an interview by Japan’s Kyodo News.
“Special precautions must be taken before inspections can return to normal.”
Israeli strikes on June 13 killed senior Iranian military commanders and dozens of nuclear scientists, and US air raids days later targeted three major sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. The attacks led parliament to approve a law to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, forcing most inspectors to leave.
Iran and the agency reached a September 9 accord to establish new procedures under what Tehran calls “postwar conditions,” but implementation has been slow. Inspectors returned briefly to oversee a fuel swap at the Bushehr power plant before departing again without access to Fordow or Natanz.
Eslami accused the IAEA of failing to defend the integrity of confidential information and said its silence over the attacks was “an unforgivable mistake that will go down in history.”
While insisting Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Eslami said inspection obligations must be balanced with national security.
“The threats from our enemies persist, and no country places any issue above its sovereignty and national security,” he said.
The standoff comes as Western governments push the IAEA to continue strict monitoring of enriched uranium stockpiles despite the heavy damage to Iranian sites.
“Iran has yet to take the reasonable and precise actions necessary to reach an extension of resolution 2231,” the German Foreign Office said on social media after a call between the E3 – Britain, France and Germany – the EU’s foreign policy chief and Iran’s foreign minister.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that the call was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon but warned that Tehran could take reciprocal measures if pressured.
“If other parties fail to fulfill their commitments or seek to pressure Iran through coercive means, naturally no one can claim that Iran must remain committed to the agreement,” he told reporters in Tehran.
Baghaei also rejected US criticism of Iran’s missile program, saying Washington had no authority to dictate the country’s defense policy. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to preserve its independence at any cost and firmly resist the excessive demands of foreign powers -- including the United States and Israel,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Jerusalem earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Iran’s missile ambitions already threaten Persian Gulf states and Europe.
“A nuclear Iran governed by a radical Shia cleric that possesses not just nuclear weapons potentially, but the missiles that could deliver those weapons far away is an unacceptable risk,” Rubio said, vowing continued “maximum economic pressure” until Tehran changes course.
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials in Riyadh.
Iranian media quoted Larijani as saying Saudi officials had already viewed regional security with concern before Israel’s strike on Qatar this month, and “now saw the situation much more clearly.”
“Countries in the region feel that what Iran has long said -- that an adventurous actor prevents stability -- has now taken a more concrete shape,” Larijani said, in comments seen as a veiled reference to Israel. He added the talks could pave the way for “greater understanding to counter shared threats and strengthen regional stability.”
Larijani’s visit to Riyadh, followed by a regional tour that also included Baghdad and Beirut in August, came just days after an Israeli strike in Doha killed Hamas leaders on September 9. Qatar and other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, condemned the attack as a violation of sovereignty.
The meetings marked the latest high-level contact since the two countries restored diplomatic ties in 2023 after years of rupture. In April, Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman made a rare trip to Tehran, where he was received by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
US-Saudi counter-drone exercise
The Iran–Saudi meetings coincided with the conclusion of Red Sands 2025, a large-scale US-Saudi exercise focused on countering drones, held from September 7 to 14 at the Shamal-2 range in northeastern Saudi Arabia.
US Central Command described it as the biggest live-fire counter-drone exercise ever conducted in the Middle East, involving more than 600 personnel and 20 advanced systems.
The drills tested radar, electro-optical and acoustic sensors, as well as electronic warfare platforms designed to detect, jam or disable drones.
Ground-based systems such as Skyguard and Shikra were paired with the Mobile Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat System (MLIDS) to counter simulated swarms. A final defensive layer involved shotgun-fired “drone defeat rounds” to stop low-flying aircraft.
US and Saudi commanders said the exercise directly addressed threats posed by armed drones used in conflicts from Yemen to Ukraine, expressing their shared commitment to regional air defense.
Defense officials said the Red Sands series, launched in 2023, is now central to planning for integrated air and missile defense across the Persian Gulf and may expand to include other regional partners.
"The United States is in no position to make decisions about Iran’s national defence capabilities. The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to preserve its independence at any cost, stand on its own feet, and firmly resist the excessive demands, aggression, and acts of hostility by foreign powers -- including the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel)."
His remarks echoed those of Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, who earlier this month said that US demands for missile curbs “set a path that negates any talks.”
A sixth round of indirect US-Iran talks was suspended in June after Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities, prompting waves of Iranian missile retaliation against Israel.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian use and denies developing missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. It argues that defense capabilities, including long-range missiles, cannot be part of any nuclear negotiations.
The United States has repeatedly said Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a threat to regional and global security and has sought to tie limits on missiles to any future nuclear diplomacy.
A June Congressional Research Service report said Western governments fear Iran’s enrichment activity could be paired with long-range delivery systems, and US lawmakers have mandated sanctions across multiple defense and foreign policy bills targeting missile development.
The State Department has imposed waves of sanctions on Iranian and Chinese entities accused of supplying materials for missile propellants and other components.
Under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, the US has identified 10 strategic materials -- including alloys, magnesium and specialized aluminum -- as controlled inputs for nuclear and missile programs.
The US has paired these restrictions with measures against Iran’s missile and drone proliferation. In December 2024, it sanctioned an IRGC Aerospace Force commander and two Iran-based companies supporting the production of Shahed-136 drones and ballistic missiles, accusing Tehran of enabling Russia’s war in Ukraine and destabilizing the Middle East.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Jerusalem earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Iran’s missile ambitions already threaten Persian Gulf states and Europe.
“A nuclear Iran governed by a radical Shia cleric that possesses not just nuclear weapons potentially, but the missiles that could deliver those weapons far away is an unacceptable risk,” Rubio said, vowing continued “maximum economic pressure” until Tehran changes course.
In recent weeks, senior Iranian officials have issued increasingly direct warnings. A member of parliament’s National Security Committee, Amir Hayat-Moghaddam, said Iranian missiles can already reach all European countries and could target US cities if launched from naval vessels positioned offshore.
“We can move our ships to within 2,000 km of the US and from there target Washington, New York, and other cities,” he said.
Iran’s defense ministry has also announced that new generations of missiles with “far greater capabilities” than those used during June’s 12-day war with Israel are now ready for deployment.
“If the Zionist enemy embarks on the adventure again, we will undoubtedly use them,” Defense Minister Aziz Nassirzadeh said last month.
Also on Wednesday, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, said that Tehran’s defensive preparations had deterred enemies from launching a fresh assault.
Snapback sanctions
Baghaei said Iran would fight until the last moment to prevent the restoration of UN sanctions under the so-called snapback mechanism, triggered last month by Britain, France and Germany.
He denounced the move as unjust and illegal, warning that if sanctions were reimposed, Tehran would end its recent understanding with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed in Cairo earlier in the month.
“Iran has never turned its back on diplomacy. But if hostile action is taken against us, any understanding with the IAEA will be considered terminated,” he said. “It is Iran’s right that if the other side fails to meet its commitments and seeks blackmail, no one can claim that Iran must remain bound by this understanding."
Baghaei added that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will speak with his British, French and German counterparts on Wednesday.
A French diplomatic source told Reuters that the call aims to discuss the impending reimposition of sanctions and to reaffirm conditions they had set to Tehran that would enable that decision to be delayed.
Restrictions on Iranian delegation
The spokesman criticized what he called “unprecedented” US restrictions on visas for Iranian officials attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying such measures violated America’s obligations as host country of UN headquarters.
“Some visas have been issued, but the process has been slow and irregular. Such behavior questions the credibility of the United States,” Baghaei said.
Relations with Syria
On Syria, Baghaei said Iran was not rushing to restore full diplomatic relations but maintained its friendship with the Syrian people. He condemned Israeli air strikes inside Syria and stressed Tehran’s support for the country’s territorial integrity.
“The severance of relations between two Muslim countries is not eternal. Whenever it is determined that renewed ties with Iran are in the interest of the Syrian people, reciprocal readiness will exist,” he said.
Baghaei accused Israel of threatening regional and global security through military actions in multiple countries and said Iran was working with regional neighbors to build “collective security without reliance on outside powers.”
Baghaei added that Tehran values regional efforts to ease dialogue with Washington but stressed that no state has been designated as a formal mediator.
He added that Iran would continue to engage in indirect talks based on its own national interests while rejecting speculation that outside powers were steering the process.
He added that European states should respond positively to Iran’s cooperative stance with the IAEA and resist US and Israeli pressure. “Any escalation would benefit no one,” he warned.
