Iran suspends co-operation with UN atomic agency

The move leaves the agency blind to Iranian nuclear work after US and Israeli strikes damaged Iran’s main sites.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at a protest in Tehran following US strikes on nuclear sites last month. Picture: AP /Vahid Salemi

Iran said it was suspending co-operation with the UN atomic agency, denying international inspectors the chance to assess the damage done by US and Israeli airstrikes on its main nuclear sites and setting up a new clash with Washington and other Western powers.

Iran’s move will leave the International Atomic Energy Agency blind for now to any renewed nuclear work Tehran is able to do, and unable to verify the whereabouts of its large stockpile of already enriched uranium.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has formally adopted the implementation of a law to suspend co-operation that Iran’s parliament ratified last week, Iranian state media said on Wednesday. The suspension is effective until various conditions are met, including guarantees for the safety of Iranian nuclear sites and scientists.

The decision could further complicate any resumption of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US, although President Donald Trump has said Washington is open to talks. Iran wants a pledge from Washington not to engage in fresh military strikes before it considers renewing the talks.

A spokesman for the IAEA said it was aware of the reports but “awaiting further official information from Iran” on its decision to suspend co-operation. The agency still has a team of inspectors in Iran that has been unable to carry out its work since Israel attacked Iran on June 13. Mr Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran last week after 12 days of war during which the US and Israel struck Iran’s main nuclear sites, including dropping bunker-buster bombs on the Fordow enrichment site.

Western intelligence agencies are still examining the extent of damage to Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities, which Mr Trump has said had been “obliterated” by the US and Israeli strikes. Tehran has started doing work to regain access to the Fordow facility, buried deep underneath a mountain.

In an interview with CBS News, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the damage at Fordow “is very extensive and very serious”.

Iran’s Natanz enrichment site was also badly damaged, according to the IAEA and US officials, as was its nuclear complex at Isfahan.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi. Picture: AFP

There have been growing calls from Western countries for Iran not to shut off access to inspectors. Iran is a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which obliges it to accept IAEA inspections.

Group of Seven foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, warned that for any diplomatic resolution of the nuclear crisis, Iran must provide the Vienna agency “with verifiable information about all nuclear material in Iran, including by providing access to IAEA inspectors”.

Following news of Iran’s decision, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called on European countries to immediately snap back all international sanctions against Iran, lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran has warned any such step could see it leave the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a step no nation apart from North Korea has ever taken.

“The international community must act decisively now and utilise all means at its disposal to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions,” Mr Sa’ar said on X.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has suggested that Iran could swiftly find itself the subject of fresh action by the board of member states if it doesn’t co-operate with the agency.

During the conflict, Mr Grossi said it was urgent for inspectors to get access to the bombed enrichment sites to assess the damage and ensure their safety. A second priority was the whereabouts and status of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, particularly the more than 400kg of highly enriched uranium, enough to fuel 10 nuclear weapons.

If that stockpile is intact and unaccounted for, experts warn it could be used in a covert enrichment site to develop weapons-grade fuel. Mr Grossi has said Iran could start enriching uranium again within months.

Iran has accused Mr Grossi of prompting the Israeli attacks by issuing a comprehensive report in late May that laid out Iran’s lack of co-operation with the IAEA during a six-year probe into undeclared nuclear material found in Iran. It has also accused him of not condemning the US and Israeli attacks. There have been death threats against him from some Iranian politicians and regime-affiliated media.

Mr Grossi’s report was ordered by the European powers. He repeatedly stated that the Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities were against international law. Mr Araghchi has refused, for now, to meet with him to discuss resuming inspections.

Wall Street Journal