DUBAI After American and Israeli airstrikes struck Iran’s most critical nuclear facilities, the country’s president on Wednesday ordered the country to halt its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. This likely made it more difficult for inspectors to follow Tehran’s program, which had been enriching uranium to levels close to weapons-grade.
However, there were no timelines or specifics regarding the nature of that suspension in President Masoud Pezeshkian’s order. In an interview with CBS News, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi did, however, imply that Tehran would still be open to further talks with the US.
In reference to Trump’s remarks that talks would begin as early as this week, Araghchi stated, “I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that.” “The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut,” he continued.
The use of pressure
Although Tehran has denied that there are any quick plans to resume talks with the United States, which were disrupted by the 12-day Iran-Israel war, Iran has previously limited IAEA inspections as a pressure tactic in negotiations with the West.
Pezeshkian’s directive, which came after Iran’s parliament passed a law suspending that cooperation, was broadcast on Iranian official media. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which Pezeshkian chairs, is expected to support the law, which was already approved by the Guardian Council, the country’s constitutional watchdog, on Thursday.
According to the bill, which was cited by state television, the government is required by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its associated Safeguards Agreement to immediately cease all collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency. “Until specific requirements are fulfilled, such as the assurance of nuclear facility and scientist security, this suspension will stay in place.
What that might entail for the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based IAEA, was not immediately apparent. The organization, which has long kept an eye on Iran’s nuclear program, stated that it was awaiting an official statement from Iran explaining the halt.
Israel denounces the action.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar immediately condemned Iran’s action.
In an X post, he claimed that Iran had recently made a shocking declaration about discontinuing its collaboration with the IAEA. All of its international nuclear commitments and obligations have been fully renounced.
Saar called on the European countries that signed Iran’s nuclear agreement in 2015 to enforce the so-called snapback clause. If one of the Western parties deems the Islamic Republic is not in compliance with the U.N. sanctions, all of the penalties that were first eased by Tehran’s nuclear agreement with world powers would be reinstated.
The IAEA does not have access to Israel’s weapons-related facilities, and it is generally accepted that it is the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East.
Details are yet unknown.
How Iran will carry out this suspension is unknown. Given Iran’s theocratic leadership, the council is free to carry out the bill however they deem proper. This implies that not all of the requests made by lawmakers may be fulfilled.
Iran’s action, nevertheless, falls short of what experts were most afraid of. They had been worried that Tehran may decide to completely renounce its cooperation with the IAEA, break with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and move quickly toward a bomb in retaliation to the conflict. In addition to requiring nations to refrain from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons, the treaty permits the IAEA to carry out inspections to ensure that nations have accurately disclosed their projects.
Under the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran was able to enrich uranium to 3.67%, which is sufficient to power a nuclear power plant but considerably less than the 90% barrier required for weapons-grade uranium. Additionally, it severely curtailed Iran’s uranium stockpile, restricted its centrifuge usage, and depended on the IAEA to provide further oversight to ensure Tehran’s compliance. Iran’s commitment to the agreement was primarily evaluated by the IAEA.
However, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the agreement during his first term in 2018, claiming it was not harsh enough and failed to address Iran’s missile development or its backing for militant organizations in the broader Middle East. Years of hostility, including land and marine attacks, were triggered by that.
Up to 60% enrichment was achieved by Iran, which was just a small technological step away from weapons-grade levels. It also possesses enough material to produce many nuclear weapons if it so chooses. The IAEA, Western intelligence services, and others claim Tehran conducted a systematic weapons program until 2003, despite Iran’s long-standing insistence that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Following US and Israeli airstrikes, suspension
Starting on June 13, Israeli aircraft destroyed Iran’s formidable Revolutionary Guard’s top brass and targeted its ballistic missile stockpile. Israel claimed that the strikes put Tehran within range of a nuclear bomb by targeting Iran’s nuclear sites.
According to Iran, 935 Iranian civilians were killed in the Israeli attacks, including 102 women and 38 children. Nonetheless, Iran has a lengthy history of providing lower mortality tolls due to political upheaval.
According to the Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has supplied comprehensive death toll statistics from several waves of unrest in Iran, 1,190 individuals have died, including 436 civilians and 435 members of the security forces. According to the group, 4,475 more persons were injured in the strikes.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, seem to be evaluating the harm caused by the American strikes on the three nuclear sites on June 22, including the one at Fordo, which was constructed beneath a mountain some 60 miles (100 kilometers) southwest of Tehran.
According to Associated Press analysis of satellite photographs from Planet Labs PBC, Iranian officials were presumably inspecting the damage inflicted by American bunker busters at Fordo on Monday. The photos showed trucks, an excavator at the site’s tunnels, and at least one crane. That matched pictures taken on Sunday by Maxar Technologies that also depicted the ongoing work.
___
Contributions to this article came from Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran.
