Saudi: Attack On Nuclear Facilities Violates International Law

Graphics mapping Israeli attacks on Iran/DOC IDF

JAKARTA - The Saudi nuclear watchdog body warns that any attack on nuclear facilities aimed at peaceful purposes is a violation of international law.

"Every armed attack by any party, or any threat targeting nuclear facilities aimed at peaceful purposes, is a violation of international resolutions, the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the International Atomic Energy Agency Statute," the Saudi Nuclear and Radiology Supervisory Commission said on Friday, June 20.

Currently, concerns are rising in Gulf Arab countries about possible environmental contamination or retaliatory attacks if Israel or the United States attack Iran's nuclear facilities across the Persian Gulf.

Iran's only functional nuclear power plant, in Bushehr, is closer to several Arab capitals allied with the US than to Tehran.

Israel did not target it in its attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Most recently from the Iran-Israeli war, Iran insists it will not discuss the future of its nuclear program when attacked by Israel. Meanwhile Europe tried to persuade Tehran to re-negotiate amid the United States' plans to engage in an attack on Iran.

A week after starting to attack Iran, the Israeli military claimed to carry out new attacks on dozens of military targets overnight, including missile production sites and research organizations involved in the development of nuclear weapons in Tehran.

Iran launched a new series of missiles on Friday, June 20 morning, which hit near residential apartments, office buildings, and industrial facilities in the southern city of Beersheba.

The White House said on Thursday US President Donald Trump would decide "whether to engage or not" in the Iran-Israeli war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday there was no room for negotiations with Israeli superpowers, the United States until Israeli aggression stopped.

However, he is scheduled to meet with European foreign ministers in Geneva on Friday evening for talks that are expected to build a way back to diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program.

Reported by Reuters, Friday, June 20, two diplomats said before a meeting involving France, Britain, Germany and the Head of Foreign Policy of the European Union, Araghchi would be told the US was still open to direct negotiations.

Israel began attacking Iran on Friday last week, saying its old enemy was close to developing nuclear weapons.

Iran, which insists its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes, retaliates with missile and drone strikes against Israel.

Israel is widely considered to own nuclear weapons. Israel does not justify or deny it.

Israeli airstrikes have killed 639 people in Iran, according to news agency Human Rights Activists, a US-based human rights organization that tracks Iran.

The death toll includes echelons over the military and nuclear scientists.

Meanwhile, Israel said 24 Israeli civilians were killed in Iranian missile attacks.