Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian put into effect on Wednesday a law passed by parliament last week to suspend cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, Iranian state media reported.
Iran has threatened to halt cooperation with the IAEA, accusing it of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel’s air strikes, which began a day after the IAEA board voted to declare Iran in violation of obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The law stipulates that any future inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency 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.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with CBS News that the U.S. bombing of Iran’s key Fordow nuclear site has “seriously and heavily damaged” the facility.
Pezeshkian’s office said on Wednesday that he had issued directives to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the Foreign Ministry, and the Supreme National Security Council to carry out the mandate.
Israel claimed its actions were a necessary preemptive measure to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon – a goal Tehran has consistently denied. The US assisted in defending Israel from retaliatory strikes and later joined the offensive, with President Donald Trump declaring that the Iranian nuclear program had been “obliterated” by US military action.
On the eve of Israeli strikes, the IAEA’s board of governors declared Iran non-compliant with a key safeguard agreement. The decision was based on a report in late May by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, who cited remarks by former Iranian officials claiming the country had the capacity to build nuclear weapons. The same report also noted there were “no credible indications of an ongoing, undeclared structured nuclear program.
