Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said on Sunday that any hostile measures against Tehran will suspend an agreement signed in Cairo last week by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
In a statement, the Council said arrangements included in the agreement signed by Iran and the UN atomic watchdog were reviewed and approved by its nuclear committee.
“The text of these arrangements was reviewed by the Nuclear Committee of the Supreme National Security Council, and what has been signed is essentially the same as what was approved by that committee,” the statement read.
It noted that the Committee, which is composed of senior officials from relevant institutions, has always been authorized by the SNSC to make decisions.
For the new agreement with the IAEA, the Committee has acted in accordance with the usual procedure, the statement added.
The statement also provided an explanation on how Iran and the IAEA should cooperate on the three nuclear sites of Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow that were struck by the US and Israel last June.
It said, after the necessary security and safety conditions are established, Iran will submit its report to the IAEA only after obtaining the opinion of the SNSC. Also, the practical methods for Iran-IAEA cooperation on the report submitted to the agency should be agreed upon by the two sides, and that any action must be approved by the SNSC.
“Should any hostile measures be taken against Iran or its nuclear facilities - including the revival of previously closed UN Security Council resolutions - the implementation of these arrangements will be immediately suspended,” the Council said.
The spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Council, Ebrahim Rezaei, said that on Saturday, the council held a three-hour meeting with the foreign minister to review the Iran-IAEA amendment.
The spokesperson noted that the memorandum was accepted in line with parliamentary law, meaning cooperation with the IAEA will only occur within that framework and the Supreme National Security Council.
He said Araghchi informed deputies that in the new agreement, the IAEA accepted new conditions for cooperation between the two sides and the need to take into account Iran's security concerns.
The FARS news agency quoted Araghchi as saying that the meeting in Parliament was “very good and constructive.”
Araghchi told deputies that any UN inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities will require further negotiations and approval from the Supreme National Security Council.