Summary

VIENNA: A US or Israeli strike on Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant would constitute a "war crime" under international law, Tehran's envoy to the United Nations' atomic agency told AFP on Thursday. Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Agency, also denied that Tehran had "restarted enrichment" of radioactive uranium following the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities in June 2025. Israel and the United States have long accused Iran of having ambitions to build a nuclear weapon, with US President Donald Trump claiming that threat as justification for both the 12-day conflict last year and the ongoing war sparked by US-Israeli strikes on February 28. Also Read: A shield for India Inc: How govt is blunting the Iran war shock Najafi argued that that justification, which alleged that Tehran was looking to enrich uranium to the purity needed to build an atomic weapon, was a "lie". "We didn't start the claim that Iran would like to restart the enrichment, we didn't restart enrichment, and it was a lie, a very big lie, like the other lies," the Iranian envoy said in an interview with AFP. The diplomat also insisted that targeting Tehran's civilian nuclear energy infrastructure would break international law. Also Read: Gulf countries planning new oil routes, including one backed by PM Narendra Modi, to bypass Strait of Hormuz: Report "Any attack on the nuclear power plant in Bushehr would be in clear violation of international law, international humanitarian law," Najafi said. "Even during the war, it is prohibited to attack the facilities for use of the civilians, and such an attack would be a very big crime, a crime against humanity, a war crime." (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Reza Najafi, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Agency, also denied that Tehran had "restarted enrichment" of radioactive uranium following the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities in June 2025. Israel and the United States have long accused Iran of having ambitions to build a nuclear weapon, with US President Donald Trump claiming that threat as justification for both the 12-day conflict last year and the ongoing war sparked by US-Israeli strikes on February 28. Also Read: A shield for India Inc: How govt is blunting the Iran war shock Najafi argued that that justification, which alleged that Tehran was looking to enrich uranium to the purity needed to build an atomic weapon, was a "lie". "We didn't start the claim that Iran would like to restart the enrichment, we didn't restart enrichment, and it was a lie, a very big lie, like the other lies," the Iranian envoy said in an interview with AFP. The diplomat also insisted that targeting Tehran's civilian nuclear energy infrastructure would break international law. Also Read: Gulf countries planning new oil routes, including one backed by PM Narendra Modi, to bypass Strait of Hormuz: Report "Any attack on the nuclear power plant in Bushehr would be in clear violation of international law, international humanitarian law," Najafi said. "Even during the war, it is prohibited to attack the facilities for use of the civilians, and such an attack would be a very big crime, a crime against humanity, a war crime." (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) Explore More Stories