Iran’s Parliament Approves Bill to Suspend Cooperation with IAEA

People pass by UN.nuclear watchdog agency headquarters on the day of an emergency meeting of its Board of Governors on the Iran crisis, in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
People pass by UN.nuclear watchdog agency headquarters on the day of an emergency meeting of its Board of Governors on the Iran crisis, in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
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Iran’s Parliament Approves Bill to Suspend Cooperation with IAEA

People pass by UN.nuclear watchdog agency headquarters on the day of an emergency meeting of its Board of Governors on the Iran crisis, in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
People pass by UN.nuclear watchdog agency headquarters on the day of an emergency meeting of its Board of Governors on the Iran crisis, in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl

Iran's parliament approved a bill on Wednesday to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, state-affiliated news outlet Nournews reported.

The move, which needs the final approval of Iran's Supreme National Security Council to be enforced according to Nournews, follows an air war with Israel in which its longtime enemy said it wanted to prevent Tehran developing a nuclear weapon.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was quoted by state media as also saying Iran would accelerate its civilian nuclear program.

Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says a resolution adopted this month by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations paved the way for Israel's attacks.

The parliament speaker was quoted as saying the IAEA had refused even to appear to condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and "has put its international credibility up for sale."

He said that "for this reason, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the Agency until the security of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed, and move at a faster pace with the country's peaceful nuclear program."

Earlier this week, parliament's national security committee approved the bill's general outline and the committee's spokesperson, Ebrahim Rezaei, said the bill would suspend the installation of surveillance cameras, inspections and filing of reports to the IAEA.

Following the Israeli attacks on its nuclear sites, and US bombing of underground Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, the Iranian government also faces calls to limit the country's commitments to the nuclear non-proliferation regime.



Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran Says it Would Resume Nuclear Talks with US if Guaranteed No Further Attacks

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia June 23, 2025. Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Iran’s foreign minister said Saturday that his country would accept a resumption of nuclear talks with the US if there were assurances of no more attacks against it, state media reported.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a speech to Tehran-based foreign diplomats that Iran has always been ready and will be ready in the future for talks about its nuclear program, but, “assurance should be provided that in case of a resumption of talks, the trend will not lead to war.”

Referring to the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran's nuclear and military sites, and the US strike on June 22, Araghchi said that if the US and others wish to resume talks with Iran, "first of all, there should be a firm guarantee that such actions will not be repeated. The attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has made it more difficult and complicated to achieve a solution based on negotiations.”

Following the strikes, Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, which led to the departure of inspectors.

Araghchi said that under Iranian law, the country will answer the agency’s request for cooperation "case by case,” based on Iran’s interests. He also said any inspection by the agency should be done based on Iran's “security” concerns as well as the safety of the inspectors. “The risk of proliferation of radioactive ingredients and an explosion of ammunition that remains from the war in the attacked nuclear sites is serious,” he said.

"The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions ... are serious," he added.

"For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect ... and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined."

He also reiterated Iran's position on the need to continue enriching uranium on its soil. US President Donald Trump has insisted that cannot happen.

Israel claims it acted because Tehran was within reach of a nuclear weapon. US intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency had assessed Iran last had an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003, though Tehran had been enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in an interview published Monday said the US airstrikes so badly damaged his country’s nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities still have not been able to access them to survey the destruction.