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The UN’s nuclear watchdog said Iran had provided no information about its declared nuclear materials or facilities and that inspectors had no on-site verification access, as Tehran threatened retaliation against South Korea if Seoul joined Gulf maritime operations and Iran’s parliament speaker warned US energy assets across regional waters faced reciprocal strikes.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the agency’s Board of Governors that Iran was not meeting its Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards obligations and called for constructive engagement to restore full oversight.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei dismissed the IAEA reports as instruments of Western political pressure and warned Tehran would take countermeasures if a new resolution referred Iran’s nuclear file back to the UN Security Council.
He attributed restrictions on IAEA inspectors to US and Israeli strikes on Iranian enrichment infrastructure.
Grossi also argued that Western efforts to revive UN Security Council oversight implicitly validated Iran, China and Russia’s position that the snapback sanctions mechanism was illegal. “It is a mistake to test what has already been tested,” he said.
Hormuz corridor near completion
Baghaei said bilateral talks with Oman on a temporary safe transit corridor in the Strait of Hormuz were near completion and would likely be registered with the International Maritime Organisation within days.
“We can now say that talks between Iran and Oman have reached their final stage,” he said.
However, the IRGC Navy’s political deputy said safe passage through the US-designated southern corridor was practically impossible.
“Any vessel entering this corridor will no longer be safe from strikes once it reaches the area of Khasab, Oman,” the official, identified as Mohammadi, said.
He said the IRGC maintained continuous intelligence and operational monitoring of vessel movements across the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, announced the establishment of an “exclusion zone” outside the Strait of Hormuz, extending from the US naval blockade line into the Persian Gulf.
“Any ship entering this area without Iran’s permission and coordination will have its details — along with the names of its owner and charterer — registered and placed on Iran’s sanctions list,” he said.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf separately warned on social media that US oil and gas assets across regional waters were exposed to retaliatory strikes.
South Korea warned
Baghaei warned South Korea that any military presence in Gulf operations would be treated as direct support for US aggression.
He framed the warning in diplomatic terms, noting that Iran-South Korea relations spanned more than 64 years and were based on mutual respect.
“The military presence of any other country or its participation in operations in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz will be regarded as direct support for the perpetrators of this aggression and will have serious consequences,” Baghaei said.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said Seoul was in close contact with the international community over the situation in the Middle East and was working to help restore stability and ensure free passage through the strait for all vessels including its own.