From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 9, 2026
Iran says IAEA visited nuclear site recently, US should follow public sentiment and end war
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The International Atomic Energy Agency recently inspected Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, says Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.
He says that the UN nuclear watchdog has “failed to fulfill their legal obligations by adopting positions that overlook the culpability and wrongdoing in the aggression against Iran’s facilities.”
“Professional communication between Iran’s mission in Vienna and the agency is ongoing,” Baghaei says in a press briefing. “The recent inspection of the Bushehr nuclear power plant serves as evidence that this regulated cooperation continues.”
Turning to attempts to reach a diplomatic solution with the US, Baghaei reiterates Iran’s stance that the US must give in to Iranian demands in order to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Tehran will only sign and implement an agreement that fully secures the national interests and legal rights of the Iranian nation,” he stresses, praising the mediation of Pakistan and Qatar.
He says an agreement depends on Washington understanding “the sentiments of its own society,” and that Iran’s proposal is “the most logical, operational, and structured roadmap.”
Responding to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statements yesterday that Iran’s demands were “outrageous and ridiculous,” Baghaei says that “the US attack on Iran in the middle of negotiations is what is outrageous and ridiculous.”
Baghaei argues that the US is being pulled into war by Israel, echoing a message heard frequently on the hard left and right in America.
“Washington must understand the extent to which its involvement with the aims of a regime that commits genocide and pursues a policy of instigating wars can create problems for it,” he says. “US officials must see that following Israel’s policies and military aggression against Iran comes with heavy costs on American society and its ruling class.”
Baghaei calls the new US Iron Gate task force, meant to shut down Iran’s overland military supply networks, a “means of deflecting from the US midterm results.”
The Times of Israel Community.