Iran's Parliament Approves Plans To Suspend Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi/PHOTO IAEA Imagebank via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Iran's parliament approved the Draft Law to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA.

The move follows an air war with Israel in which the old Iranian enemy said it wanted to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

The bill, which must be approved by the Iranian Supervisory Board, stipulates that any future examination by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires approval from the Highest National Security Council.

Parliamentary spokesman Mohammad Baqer Qallibaf was quoted by state media as saying Iran would accelerate its civilian nuclear program.

Tehran has denied seeking nuclear weapons and said this month's IAEA resolution that Iran violated its non-proliferation obligations had paved the way for Israeli attacks.

Qalibaf said the IAEA even refused to condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and had risked its international credibility.

He said for this reason, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization would suspend cooperation with the agency until the security of nuclear facilities is guaranteed, and move more quickly with the country's peaceful nuclear program.

The parliament's national security committee approved a outline of the bill this week and a spokesman for the committee said the bill would suspend the installation of surveillance cameras, inspections and submissions of reports to the IAEA.

The IAEA did not immediately comment on Iran's parliamentary approval of the bill.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday he was seeking to return the watchdog to Iranian locations including the Iranian factories enriched uranium until Israel launched an attack on June 13.

To what extent the damage to nuclear sites during the Israeli attack and the US bombing of Iran's underground nuclear facilities remains unclear.

"I think our views on our nuclear program and the non-proliferation regime will experience changes, but it is impossible to say in which direction," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Qatar's Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.