The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday urged Iran to reconsider its decision to deny access to top UN inspectors, telling that failure to cooperate will carry severe consequences. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday that Iran had withdrawn accreditation from several inspectors, a move Teheran described as retaliation for "political abuses" by the United States, France, Germany and Britain. "We have to ask them to review this decision," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said in an interview. "If they do not cooperate with the IAEA, they will not get what they want: the assurances they want to see, the confirmation they want to see, the approval of the international community."

Grossi also warned that military activity has been increasing around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces since March 2022. "Military operations are increasing in the area, my inspectors are telling me that the level of military activity is palpable," Grossi told AFP. "It's loud, and it's getting closer." Since the start of June, Kyiv's troops have led a counteroffensive in the area near Zaporizhzhia in the east and south of the country in an attempt to retake territory held by Russia since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

Kyiv says it is vital to regain control of the Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe's largest nuclear plant, with a capacity of 6,000 megawatts, in order to supply electricity to Ukraine. Grossi said that a direct attack on the plant or the interruption of external power supply could lead to a nuclear accident with radiological consequences. "So, what we need to do is to guarantee... that there is no deep degradation of the situation as we see it now," Grossi said.

 Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)