Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of ineffectually policing Iran's nuclear activities and suggested the UN watchdog risked becoming politicised and irrelevant.
The criticism on Sunday followed an IAEA report last week that Iran had provided a satisfactory answer on one case of suspected uranium particles and re-installed some monitoring equipment originally put in place under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.
With Iran having enriched enough uranium to 60 percent fissile purity for two nuclear bombs, if refined further - something it denies wanting or planning - Israel has redoubled threats to launch preemptive military strikes if international diplomacy fails.
"Iran is continuing to lie to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The agency's capitulation to Iranian pressure is a black stain on its record," Netanyahu told his cabinet in televised remarks.
"If the IAEA becomes a political organisation, then its oversight activity in Iran is without significance, as will be its reports on Iran's nuclear activity."
