International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi is the target of an Iran-linked threat, prompting heightened personal security, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Grossi has been receiving non-stop protection from Austria's security services after Vienna's intelligence agency received information of the threat, the report added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused Grossi and the IAEA in June of assisting Israel in its war with Iran during that month.
Islamic Republic officials have also called for Grossi to be put on trial, accusing him of being "biased and spreading baseless concerns about Iran’s nuclear activities," the WSJ noted.
Iran's hardline Kayhan newspaper also said in June that Grossi "should be tried and executed as an Israeli agent," which led to harsh denouncements by the E3 countries Britain, France, and Germany. Claims that the IAEA was acting on orders for Israel were pushed back by the agency as well as by Western supporters.
Threats against Grossi come as IAEA inspectors return to Iran
The WSJ report comes as Grossi told Fox News on Tuesday that the first team of IAEA inspectors had arrived in Iran and were set to restart working. The IAEA had pulled its inspectors from Iranian territory in early July due to safety concerns.
At the time of the inspectors' initial departure, the IAEA wrote in a X/Twitter post that Grossi "reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible."
Ali Larijani, senior aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the head of Iran’s National Security Council, said in a X/Twitter post that, "When the war ends, we are going to deal with Grossi."
Reuters contributed to this report.