Iran suspends cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog
On June 25, a day after a ceasefire took hold, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favour of the bill to suspend cooperation with the agency.
State media said on Wednesday that the legislation had cleared the final hurdle and was in effect.
The text, published by Iranian media, states that the legislation aims to "ensure full support for the inherent rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran" under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, and "especially uranium enrichment".
The issue of enrichment was at the core of disagreements between Washington and Tehran in nuclear negotiations that had been derailed by the war.
Israel and some Western countries had for long accused Iran of seeking to quire nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied.
The text of the law did not specify concrete moves linked to the suspension of cooperation with the IAEA, whose inspectors have had access to declared nuclear facilities.
Following the parliament vote, the bill was approved by the Guardian Council, a body tasked with vetting legislation, before a final ratification from the presidency.
Iranian President "Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency", state TV said on Wednesday.
Iranian officials have sharply criticised the IAEA for what they described as the agency's "silence" in the face of the Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.
'Deceptive and fraudulent'
Tehran has also lambasted the UN agency for a resolution adopted on June 12 that accuses Iran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations.
Iranian officials said the resolution was among the "excuses" for the Israeli attacks.
On Wednesday, senior judiciary official Ali Mozaffari said that IAEA director Rafael Grossi should "be held accountable" for what he called "preparing the groundwork for the crime" against Iran, referring to Israel's air raids.
Mozaffari accused Grossi of "deceptive actions and fraudulent reporting", according to Iranian news agency Tasnim.
Iran has rejected a request from Grossi to visit nuclear facilities bombed during the war, and earlier this week Pezeshkian decried his "destructive" conduct.
Iran has said Grossi's request to visit the bombarded sites signalled "malign intent" but insisted there were no threats against him or against inspectors from his agency.
France, Germany and Britain have condemned unspecified "threats" against the IAEA chief.
Iran's ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper has recently claimed that documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.
Damage
On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the parliament vote to halt cooperation with the IAEA reflected the "concern and anger of the Iranian public opinion".
The 12-day war began when Israel launched a major bombing campaign on Iran and killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists, with Tehran responding with waves of missiles and drones launched at Israel.
On June 22, Israel's ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
More than 900 people were killed in Iran, according to the judiciary.
Iran's retaliatory attacks killed 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.
US President Donald Trump said the US attacks had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear programme, though the extent of the damage was not clear.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has admitted "serious" damage to nuclear sites.
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
'Europeans are more wary than ever of a hastily negotiated deal between Washington and Tehran'
The silence between the French president and his Russian counterpart, who has been accused of war crimes, lasted a little less than three years. But the stakes over Iran's nuclear program were so high that Emmanuel Macron decided to reestablish contact on Tuesday, July 1, with Vladimir Putin, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. While he still speaks with Donald Trump, the Russian president remains a pariah in Europe, as he refuses any prospect of a ceasefire at a time when his army is making gains on Ukrainian territory. Before agreeing to end "his" war, he once again demanded during his conversation with Emmanuel Macron that the "root causes" of the conflict be addressed – essentially, the alleged expansion of NATO – for which he places blame on "the West." Nevertheless, the French president intends to mobilize the members of the United Nations Security Council, including Russia and China, to step up efforts for negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program. After Vladimir Putin, who assured him that he was not encouraging his Iranian ally to acquire the bomb, the current resident of the Elysée plans to speak 'soon' with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. For Macron, the time has come to return to diplomacy following Israeli and American strikes, as the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, announced on June 24, ended what President Trump had dubbed the "Twelve-Day War." The French president is not alone in wanting a negotiated solution to quickly follow the American and Israeli military operations. His German counterpart, Friedrich Merz, and British counterpart, Keir Starmer – whose countries signed the Vienna Agreement on July 14, 2015, along with the United States, the European Union, Iran, France, China, and Russia – are essentially on the same page. However, they refuse to speak with the Russian president, whose word they deem "unreliable." In fact, the return of diplomacy is only just beginning to take shape, under the watchful eye of the unpredictable Donald Trump, a Nobel Prize candidate eager to be at the forefront seven years after tearing up the Vienna Agreement, which had been signed by Barack Obama to strictly oversee Iran's nuclear program. After the strikes, the diplomatic outlook remains extremely unclear. The American president has been stalling for time, saying he had "nothing to offer" Iran. Tehran, for its part, has refused to negotiate with Israel's main ally, whose military intervention has shaken the regime.
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
Russia becomes first country to officially recognize Taliban government in Afghanistan
Afghanistan's government said on Thursday, July 3 that Russia had become the first country to officially recognize its rule, calling it a "brave decision". The Taliban swept back to power in 2021 after ousting the foreign-backed government and have imposed an austere version of Islamic law. The announcement was made after Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, in Kabul. "This brave decision will be an example for others... Now that the process of recognition has started, Russia was ahead of everyone," Muttaqi said in a video of the meeting posted on X. "Russia is the first country which has officially recognized the Islamic Emirate," Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Zia Ahmad Takal told AFP, using the government's name for their administration. Moscow's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, told Russia's state news agency Ria Novosti that the government had "recognized" the Taliban government. Russia's foreign affairs ministry also confirmed the news to the TASS news agency. The move comes shortly after Taliban diplomat, Gul Hassan, assumed the role of Kabul's ambassador to Moscow. Moscow has taken steps to normalize relations with the Taliban authorities, removing their designation as a "terrorist organization" in April and inviting them to official events. Russia was the first country to open a business representative office in Kabul after the Taliban takeover, and has announced plans to use Afghanistan as a transit hub for gas heading to Southeast Asia. In July 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Taliban "allies in the fight against terrorism". Only Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates recognised the Taliban during their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001. This time, multiple other states, including China and Pakistan, have accepted Taliban ambassadors in their capitals, but have not officially recognieed the Islamic Emirate. There has been limited but growing engagement with the Taliban authorities, particularly from its regional neighbors, but also major global players China and Russia. However, its restrictions on women and girls, barring them from education and squeezing them from public life, have been key sticking points for Western nations. The Taliban authorities have keenly sought international recognition and investment, as the country recovers from four decades of war, including the Soviet invasion from 1979 to 1989.
LeMonde
5 hours ago
- LeMonde
Macron threatens retaliation after Iran lays new espionage charges on French detainees
President Emmanuel Macron called the fresh indictments a "provocation towards France" and threatened Tehran with "retaliatory measures" if Iran upheld new charges. "We won't wait to answer," he said, adding that he would soon speak to his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian. Cécile Kohler, 40, and Jacques Paris, her 72-year-old partner, have been held in Iran since May 2022 on charges of espionage that their families deny. But Iran has now charged the pair with spying for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, as well as "corruption of Earth" and "plotting to overthrow the regime," diplomatic and family sources told AFP Agency on Wednesday, July 2. Tehran has not confirmed the new charges, all three of which carry the death penalty. A French diplomatic source has described the allegations as "completely unfounded." Macron did not mention what retaliation could be applied. But Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said earlier in the day that France would decide whether to reimpose sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, depending on whether Tehran released the pair. "Freeing Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris is an absolute priority for us," Barrot said. "We have always told our interlocutors from the Iranian regime that any decisions on sanctions will be conditional on resolving this issue." Iran officially suspended its cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Wednesday. The move came after a 12-day conflict last month between Iran and Israel, which saw unprecedented Israeli and US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and sharply escalated tensions between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Sanctions 'snapback' possible until deadline The United States and other Western countries, along with Israel, accuse Iran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies that, but has gradually broken away from its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal that it struck with world powers, after the US pulled out of it in 2018. Israel has maintained ambiguity about its own atomic arsenal, neither officially confirming nor denying its existence, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that its arsenal amounts to 90 nuclear warheads. The landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal provided Tehran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic programme to be monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog. The deal included the possibility of UN sanctions being reimposed through a mechanism called "snapback" if Iran failed to fulfil its commitments, an option that expires in October. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged European signatories of the 2015 deal to trigger the "snapback" mechanism and reinstate all UN sanctions on Iran. Iran is believed to hold around 20 European nationals, many of whose cases have never been publicized, in what some Western governments including France describe as a strategy of hostage-taking aimed at extracting concessions from the West. Three other Europeans, who have not been identified, have also been arrested in the wake of the current conflict, two of whom are accused of spying for Israel, according to authorities.
