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Key Points
- Iran has suspended inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog.
- New legislation requires top security clearance for all access to Iranian nuclear sites by the agency.
- It comes after Iran accused the agency of providing a pretext for Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear sites.
Iran has officially suspended its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a move that has drawn sharp international criticism.
It comes after last month’s 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, in which Israel and the US launched unprecedented strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, and tensions between Iran and the IAEA escalated.
Iran has accused the IAEA of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel’s airstrikes, which began a day after the UN agency’s board voted to declare Iran in violation of obligations under the UN-backed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In its decision, the IAEA cited “failures” from Iran to provide the agency with “full and timely co-operation regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities”.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian formally enacted the suspension on Wednesday, state media reported.
The law aims to “ensure full support for the inherent rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran” under the UN-backed nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, with a particular focus on uranium enrichment, according to Iranian media.
The law stipulates that any future inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the IAEA needs approval by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.
“We are aware of these reports. The IAEA is awaiting further official information from Iran,” the IAEA said in a statement.
US state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce called the move “unacceptable”, and said that prior to the US’ strikes on Iranian sites, Iran was amassing a stockpile of highly enriched uranium for which there was no credible peaceful purpose.
She said Iran must fully comply with its NPT obligations, including by providing the IAEA with information on undeclared nuclear material and providing unrestricted access to a newly announced enrichment facility.
Iran has long argued that it develops nuclear capacities for peaceful purposes only, such as energy. It is a signatory to the NPT.
A spokesperson for UN chief António Guterres said the decision was “obviously concerning”.
While IAEA inspectors have had access to Iran’s declared nuclear sites, their current status is uncertain amid the suspension.
On Sunday, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said the inspectors’ work had been suspended but denied there had been any threats against them or IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.
He said that the “inspectors are in Iran and are safe”, but “their activities have been suspended, and they are not allowed to access our sites”.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar urged European signatories of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and several Western countries to trigger a “snapback” mechanism and reinstate all UN sanctions on Iran.
The snapback, set to expire in October, was part of the nuclear accord that collapsed after Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018.
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for relief from certain sanctions imposed by the US, the European Union, and the UN Security Council.
Iran began scaling back its commitments a year after Trump pulled out from the agreement and reinstated US sanctions.
Iranian officials have warned that triggering the ‘snapback’ mechanism could prompt the country’s withdrawal from the non-proliferation treaty. Israel, widely believed to possess nuclear weapons itself, is not an NPT signatory.
Iran has accused IAEA of providing pretext for Israeli attacks
Since the Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Iran has sharply criticised the IAEA, with officials saying that accusations against Iran of non-compliance with its NPT obligations provided a pretext for Israel and the US’ attacks.
On Wednesday, senior Iranian official Ali Mozaffari accused IAEA chief Grossi of “preparing the groundwork” for Israel’s raids and called for him to be held accountable, citing “deceptive actions and fraudulent reporting”.
Israel’s 12-day war killed top Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists and drew waves of retaliatory drone and missile fire.
On 22 June, the US launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz.
More than 900 people were killed in Iran during the conflict, according to the judiciary. Iran’s retaliatory attacks killed 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has acknowledged “serious” damage to the sites, but in a recent interview with CBS said “one cannot obliterate the technology and science … through bombings”.
The Pentagon said on Thursday that US intelligence assessments indicated that the strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites set the country’s atomic program back by up to two years.
