Iran has repeatedly claimed that its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes only, including generating electricity, medical research, and industrial use. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s “supreme leader,” as they call him, also made multiple statements denoting they do not seek to create weapons of mass destruction. He professed, “Islam prohibits weapons of mass destruction. We do not seek them. Our nuclear program is peaceful.” However, this is far from the truth, and the IAEA has confirmed that they cannot ensure that Iran’s nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes. “Unless and until Iran assists the agency in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues, the agency will not be in a position to assure that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful,” Rafael Marino Grossi, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, affirmed. The IAEA has a global mandate to ensure nuclear technology’s safe, secure, and peaceful use. The non-compliance towards IAEA from Iran is a staggering concern globally. Israeli Prime Minister professed that “Iran has produced uranium for nine atom bombs.” Iran also has a long history of non-compliance and partial cooperation with the IAEA, but in 2024-25, Iran declared a total breakdown in cooperation and refused inspectors entry to key facilities; there were no responses to questions about uranium traces found at undeclared sites. According to IAEA reports, Iran has been enriching uranium to 60% fissile purity, which could be refined further to the roughly 90% that is weapons-grade material; this is a “serious concern,” IAEA corroborates. No other country has enriched to that level without producing Nuclear weapons, which can lead to devastating outcomes that can send shockwaves across the globe. It is unmistakable that the activities of Iran are hostile, particularly with its long history of supporting militant groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and other proxy forces across the Middle East. This hostility harboured in Iran provoked the strikes from Israel.
