VIENNA (Dispatches) -- Russia “strongly and categorically condemns” aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran, Russia’s permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Monday.
Speaking at a special session of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the situation around Iran, Ulyanov said the current developments has a “direct and immediate bearing” on the agency’s mandate and required an immediate response.
He said statements by the United States and Israel “leave not the slightest doubt that their sole objective is the overthrow of the legitimate government of Iran and the complete destruction of its statehood.”
According to Ulyanov, Washington is using nuclear non-proliferation as a political tool, adding that concerns raised over the past 25 years about Iran’s nuclear program are “merely a facade” for pursuing that objective. 
He said this demonstrates that non-proliferation is viewed by the United States exclusively as an instrument for settling political scores with states whose independent policies and sovereign choices it finds unacceptable.
Ulyanov said Russia expects “clear assessments” of Israel’s and the United States’ actions from the IAEA leadership, adding that “the time for juggling vague language and playing at equidistance has passed.” 
He warned that ignoring what the grave consequences of these actions would endanger the global non-proliferation regime, the cornerstone of which he said is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
He said Russia condemns the attacks’ “destructive consequences,” which he said have already spread to other countries in the 
region, adding that the scenario of the attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel in June 2025 have been “repeated almost identically.”
To avoid catastrophic consequences for West Asia, Ulyanov said the United States and Israel must immediately cease military actions and return the situation to a political and diplomatic track.
“Nuclear facilities must under no circumstances become targets of attacks,” he said.