IAEA Finds No Evidence of Iran Developing Nuclear Weapons

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, has affirmed that Iran has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, while still maintaining its right to nuclear energy and research. President Pezeshkian made this statement on Monday, June 16, 2025, in response to Israel's attack, claiming to have destroyed Iran's nuclear weapons facility.

Previously, the statement emerged amid an ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Iran, triggered by Israel's airstrike on Iran on Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel launched attacks on three major nuclear facilities in Iran- Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow- amid escalating conflict, which caused powerful explosions and even a minor earthquake.

Israel commenced its military operation through a massive air strike titled "Operation Rising Lion." More than 200 fighter jets were deployed to bombard around 100 targets in various regions of Iran, dropping over 330 munitions. Israel referred to this attack as a preemptive step to thwart suspected Iranian efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

However, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, stated that the organization did not find any evidence to claim that Iran was attempting to create nuclear weapons.

As reported by Truthout on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, Grossi stated that although clandestine activities beyond the agency's surveillance could not be ruled out, the report claiming that Iran has not actively been developing nuclear weapons since 2003 was considered accurate.

According to Grossi, those claiming to have precise details about Iran's movement towards nuclear weapons were purely engaged in speculation. "If there was some activity which was clandestine or hidden or away from our inspectors, we couldn’t know," stated Grossi.

However, he emphasized that based on the IAEA's official report, there is no evidence to support the claims against Iran. "We did not have — as in coincidence with some of the sources you mentioned there — that we did not have any proof of a systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon," Grossi clarified as reported by Truthout.

In line with the statement of the IAEA Director General, on March 25, 2025, the National Intelligence Director of the Trump administration, Tulsi Gabbard, informed members of the United States Congress that Iran is not in the process of building nuclear weapons.

"The IC [intelligence community] continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons programme he suspended in 2003," Gabbard stated as reported by Al Jazeera.

However, Gabbard also noted a shift in Iran's public discourse regarding nuclear weapons. She mentioned that there had been an "erosion of a decades-long taboo" in openly discussing the issue, possibly allowing room for pro-nuclear weapon groups in Iran's decision-making structure.

She also warned that Iran's enriched uranium reserves are now at the highest levels ever recorded for a non-nuclear state.

However, Iran has denied allegations that they are pursuing the development of nuclear weapons and reaffirmed that, as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it has legitimate rights to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including uranium enrichment.

Nurdin Saleh and Sita Planasari contributed to the writing of this article

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