Iran’s parliament has approved a bill to suspend cooperation with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, state-affiliated media has reported.
Politicians unanimously supported the move against the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, according to Iranian state media.
The bill, which states that any future IAEA inspection must be authorised by the Supreme National Security Council, will need to be approved by the unelected Guardian Council to become law.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency, which refused to even marginally condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, put its international credibility up for auction,” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on state television.
“The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of our nuclear facilities is guaranteed,” he added.
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His words came shortly after the end of almost two weeks of fighting between Iran and Israel, which began on 13 June when the Israeli military attacked Iranian military sites and killed some of its leading commanders.
The conflict escalated further over the weekend when the US struck three nuclear sites in Iran with bombs.
US President Donald Trump suggested the strikes had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme. However, a subsequent US intelligence report called this claim into question.
The report found that while the facilities sustained significant damage, they were not destroyed, estimating the programme had only been set back by several months. The White House dismissed the report as “flat-out wrong”.
The Vienna-based IAEA, which has monitored Iran’s nuclear activities for years, has called for renewed access to Iranian facilities.
The body’s director Rafael Grossi said he had already written to Iran to discuss resuming inspections of their nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, has expressed deep regret over Iran’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
At a joint press briefing at Austria’s Security Cabinet meeting, Grossi stated, “It would certainly be very regrettable. I hope it does not happen, and I don’t think it would benefit anyone.” According to Turkish news Anadolu, Grossi warned that Iran’s move could result in greater isolation and may cause a serious crack in the global nuclear non-proliferation framework. His remarks came shortly after Iran’s Parliament voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA, escalating tensions further.
This decision followed a recent spike in Iran-Israel hostilities, and came just a day after a US-proposed ceasefire between the two was announced. In response to questions about Iran’s growing stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Grossi emphasized that the return of IAEA inspectors to Iranian sites is now a top priority.
He acknowledged that re-establishing access to Iranian nuclear facilities will not be easy. “We need to go back, and getting inspectors back into those places is not a simple task,” he added. He also urged prompt communication between both sides to avoid further breakdowns.
MSN
