Iran formally suspends cooperation with IAEA
Iran has signaled that it could take legal action against IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, who has been barred from entering the country
Iran has formally suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which it accuses of paving the way for US and Israeli strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian “ordered all administrative organizations to implement a parliamentary directive on the suspension of cooperation” with the agency, Tasnim reported on 2 July.
The Iranian parliament had voted on 25 June to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, one day after the end of a 12-day Israeli war against Iran.
The move was approved by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and Guardian Council.
Pezeshkian’s order coincided with a CBS interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who acknowledged serious damage at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araghchi said.
"The Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran ... is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government,” he added.
One day earlier, Iranian government spokeswoman Fatima Mohajerani said during a press conference that the country’s nuclear sites sustained “serious damage” from Israeli and US attacks.
US President Donald Trump says Washington’s attack “completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities.
However, leaked US and European intelligence assessments indicate that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium may have survived, and that the country’s nuclear program was only temporarily set back.
Israel’s US-backed campaign against Iran began just a day after the IAEA board passed a resolution accusing Tehran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement. The resolution was based on an IAEA report in late May, which claimed that Iran carried out secret nuclear activities with material not declared to the UN nuclear watchdog at three locations decades ago.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said last month that the IAEA report helped pave the way for the start of the Israeli war on the Islamic Republic on 13 June.
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said earlier this week that Iran could start enriching uranium within months.
Iran recently rejected a request by Grossi to visit the damaged nuclear sites.
“Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,” Araghchi stated earlier this week. The Atomic Energy Agency of Iran (AEOI) has signaled that Tehran may take legal action against Grossi.
The IAEA chief has been barred from entering the country.