Iran is more than a state; it is a civilisation — ancient, self-aware, and seasoned by centuries of philosophical, artistic, and spiritual refinement. Its civilisational character has always informed its political and moral choices, even in the turbulent landscape of modern geopolitics. Unlike the West, Iran does not wear hypocrisy as a habit. 

It remembers history and acts from within it. Its dealings with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been largely transparent, shaped by a consciousness of sovereignty, not submission. Yet, the Western media and their political patrons have spun Iran as a rogue actor — a convenient “other” to sustain the myth of Western virtue.

Iran’s foreign policy has been built on the principle of resistance — to domination, to occupation, to colonial arrogance. Its support for Hezbollah and Hamas was never about blind sectarianism; it was a defence of dignity, a shield against a regional hegemon that continues to brutalize Palestinians with genocidal impunity. In a world where Israel bombs refugee camps and hospitals while proclaiming self-defence, Iran’s solidarity becomes not aggression but moral necessity. It has kept alive the idea of asymmetry — that the weak, when organized and conscious, can still resist the strong.

IAEA and accountability

Far from the caricature of secrecy often painted in Western headlines, Iran’s record with the IAEA — uneven and contested as any long-term relationship with a global bureaucracy will be — also shows episodes of co-operation, verification, and technical engagement. The architecture of safeguards exists precisely to manage mistrust; where there have been disputes, they have generally been over technical inspections, access protocols, and the politics that surround them. Rhetorically invoking Iran’s civilisational claim to dignity, Iran’s negotiators have repeatedly argued that compliance is not capitulation. As one Iranian diplomat put it in quieter moments: dignity before domination. A UN voice that has periodically called for impartial oversight has warned that politicising technical verification corrodes the........

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