Former IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has condemned recent US threats of military action against Iran, drawing stark parallels to the buildup before the 2003 Iraq invasion. He argues these unilateral warnings violate international law amid no clear danger from Iran.
In a January 29, 2026, post on X, ElBaradei—a Nobel Peace Prize winner and ex-IAEA Director General—stated: “The continued unilateral threats of a military strike against #Iran in the absence of any clear and present danger and in violation of international law, brings to mind the same grim scene before the illegal and immoral #Iraq war with its lies and horrifying consequences. Human life and regional destruction don’t seem to matter. We never learn.”
The remarks follow President Donald Trump’s statements about a “massive armada” of US naval forces moving toward Iran, with warnings of attacks worse than the June 2025 US-Israeli conflict. Iran has responded that its forces are ready to counter any aggression decisively.
ElBaradei highlights the Iraq War’s falsehoods on weapons of mass destruction, which killed over a million Iraqis and cost trillions, as a caution against repeating history without evidence of Iranian threats.
