TEHRAN — Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency’s silence over repeated U.S. threats against the country’s peaceful nuclear facilities, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei hitting out at Washington for violating international law and questioning the absence of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
In a post on X, Baghaei said, “The repeated U.S. attacks and threats against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities not only constitute a flagrant violation of the core principles of the UN Charter, international law, and the relevant resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors, General Conference, and UN Security Council, but also reveal the United States’ deep-rooted enmity toward Iran’s scientific progress and technological development.”
His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump said he could launch terrorist military strikes against what he alleged was a nuclear facility under construction beneath Mountain Kolang in central Iran. 
Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected those claims, saying no nuclear activities are taking place at the site.
Baghaei said Iran’s nuclear program “has been fully declared to the IAEA in accordance with its safeguards obligations.”
He added that Washington’s “obsessive” focus on Mountain Kolang, “where no nuclear activity exists, is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage.”
The spokesman also criticized the UN nuclear agency’s response to the U.S. threats, asking, “By the way, where is the Director General of the IAEA, who is also a candidate for UN Secretary-General?”
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes and says its safeguarded nuclear activities are conducted under IAEA monitoring. 
Tehran has repeatedly stated that threats or attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities violate international law as well as resolutions adopted by the IAEA’s policymaking bodies.
Baghaei said the Iranian people remain prepared to respond to any threat against the country.
“The resolute and united Iranian nation stands ready to confront with full strength any act of US hostility or violation of their country’s sovereignty and national security,” he said.