The UN nuclear watchdog will hold an emergency meeting on Iran following US-Israeli strikes, as tensions over Tehran’s atomic programme escalate.

VIENNA: The International Atomic Energy Agency will convene an extraordinary meeting on Iran on Monday following military strikes by the United States and Israel.

The Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog announced the special session of its 35-country Board of Governors in a statement late on Saturday, confirming it was called at the request of Russia, a key ally of Tehran.

Iran had submitted an identical request in a letter to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi earlier on Saturday, following strikes that resulted in the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The agency stated the meeting would address “matters related to military strikes of the United States and Israel against the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

This emergency session will precede an already scheduled regular meeting of the board.

In the wake of the strikes, the IAEA said it was “closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, and urges restraint to avoid any nuclear safety risks to people in the region”.

The agency had also stressed the “utmost urgency” of its request to verify all nuclear material in Iran, according to a confidential report seen by AFP on Friday.

Western nations, led by the United States and Israel, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies while insisting on its right to civilian nuclear technology.

 The Sun Malaysia