Israel Urges IAEA To Make Iran Pay As General Threatens To Raze Tel Aviv, Haifa

As the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors convenes in Vienna, the Israeli premier has called on the watchdog to put pressure on Iran. 

Addressing the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Naftali Bennett said, “We expect the IAEA Board of Governors to place a clear warning light in front of the regime in Tehran, and make it clear that if it continues in its defiant nuclear policy, it will pay a heavy price.”

Bennet said Israel has "shifted gear" when it comes to Iran, describing last year as a “turning point” in Israel’s policy against the Islamic Republic.

Earlier in the day, the commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Force Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari warned that “By the order of the Supreme Leader, we will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground for any mistake made by the enemy.”

Bennett’s comments came as the board started a five-day meeting in Vienna on Monday and is expected to vote on a resolution, drafted by Britain, France, Germany, and the United States to censure Iran for the first time since June 2020, urging Tehran to “cooperate fully” with the UN agency.

Reuters news agency reported that the draft resolution says the board "expresses profound concern that the safeguards issues related to these three undeclared locations remain outstanding due to insufficient substantive cooperation by Iran…[and] calls upon Iran to act on an urgent basis to fulfil its legal obligations.”