Iran remains 'obsessed' with building nuclear deterrent despite damage incurred from U.S. strikes last month, but suggests its still open to negotiation in a move that one expert warns is a ploy to buy time.

Iran also criticized the IAEA, and Grossi directly, for not condemning the U.S. and Israel for attacking its nuclear facilities, which Iran considered a violation of international law. In May, the IAEA censured Iran, claiming the country had stockpiled enriched uranium to near weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Israel’s tally of war damage it has wrought on Iran includes the targeted killings of at least 14 nuclear scientists and experts.