Iran enacts law halting all cooperation with nuclear watchdog IAEA
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian announced on Wednesday that Iran would suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, Iranian state media reported.
The bill, titled 'Suspension of the Islamic Republic's Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency with a Two-Urgency Requirement,' was originally put forward in Iranian parliament last month.
"Given the violation of Iran's national sovereignty and territorial integrity by the Zionist regime and the United States of America with respect to the country's peaceful nuclear facilities and the endangerment of Iran's supreme interests, based on Article 60 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on Treaties, the government is obligated to immediately suspend any cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency based on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its safeguards, until certain conditions are met, including ensuring the security of the facilities and scientists,' it read.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that the country cannot be expected to ensure usual cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency when the security of agency inspectors cannot be guaranteed days after nuclear sites were hit by Israeli and US strikes.
Iran has halted collaborating with the IAEA "until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed," the country's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posted on X/Twitter on Friday.
He also indicated that Tehran may reject any request by the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, for visits to Iranian nuclear sites.
The decision was made because the agency's Director-General, Rafael Grossi, had facilitated a resolution against the Islamic Republic by the IAEA's Board of Governors that was "politically motivated," Araghchi claimed.
The Islamic Republic official also added that the strikes on the country's nuclear facilities by US and Israeli forces also factored into the decision. Araghchi claimed that the strikes were "blatant violations of IAEA safeguards," and that Grossi failed to condemn them.
Araghchi also claimed that Grossi's wish to visit the nuclear strikes that were struck is "meaningless and possibly even malign in intent." Grossi then emphasized the need for IAEA inspectors to continue their verification activities in Iran.
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