VIENNA — Iran’s nuclear chief said Monday that “terrorists and saboteurs” might have infiltrated the International Atomic Energy Agency in an effort to derail his nation’s atomic program.
It was Tehran’s harshest attack on the integrity of the U.N. organization and its investigation of allegations that Iran is striving to make nuclear arms.
Fereydoun Abbasi also rebuked the United States in comments to the IAEA’s 155-nation general conference, reflecting Iran’s determination to defy international pressure aimed at curbing its nuclear program and nudging it toward cooperation with the IAEA inspection.
Revealing what he called two sabotage attempts on his country’s nuclear program, he challenged the perpetrators to launch new attacks, saying his country is determined to learn how to protect its interests from such assaults.
In the past week, Netanyahu has urged President Barack Obama and other world leaders to state clearly at what point Iran would face a military attack. But Obama and his top aides, who repeatedly say all options remain on the table, have pointed to shared U.S.-Israeli intelligence that suggests Iran hasn’t decided yet whether to build a bomb.
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Iran as “a threat, not only for Israel but for the whole world.” But she said she wants to see a “political solution.”
Tehran denies seeking nuclear arms, and Abbasi — an Iranian vice president whom the agency suspects was involved in nuclear weapons research — insisted Monday that his country’s nuclear program is aimed only at making reactor fuel and doing medical research.
