The IAEA’s deputy head will visit Iran Monday to ease tensions, but no inspections will occur. Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi reiterates that cooperation is contingent on new terms.
Vienna International Centre, where IAEA offices are locatediStock
The deputy head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is set to visit Iran on Monday in an attempt to mend strained relations, as confirmed by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday.
Araghchi stated that the visit would not include any inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities. This comes after Israel and Iran’s intense 12-day conflict in June, during which several key Iranian nuclear sites were targeted.
Following a series of U..and Israeli airstrikes on July 3, which severely damaged Iran’s most critical nuclear installations, President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered a halt to the nation’s cooperation with the IAEA. This move is expected to further hinder the agency’s ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear activities, which had been edging closer to weapons-grade uranium enrichment levels.
“As long as we haven’t reached a new framework for cooperation, there will be no cooperation, and the new framework will definitely be based on the law passed by the Parliament,” Araghchi emphasized on Sunday.
In a television appearance last week, Araghchi added that any future IAEA cooperation would require the approval of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the highest authority on national security matters.
The Iranian government contends that a resolution passed by the board of the IAEA, which declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, paved the way for the Israeli and US strikes.
Iran has rejected the IAEA report, claiming it was based on “unreliable and misleading information” provided to the agency by Israel.
