IAEA in dark as Iran's President approves law to sideline agency

US condemns 'unacceptable' development

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. AP

The UN's nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday it was awaiting an update from Iran, after President Masoud Pezeshkian approved a law suspending co-operation with the agency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is "aware of these reports and is awaiting further official information from Iran", a spokesman told The National.

The US State Department condemned Iran’s move to stop co-operating with the IAEA.

"It is … unacceptable that Iran chose to suspend co-operation with the IAEA at a time when it has a window of opportunity to reverse course and choose a path of peace and prosperity,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.

Ms Bruce said Iran must fully comply with provisions under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, "including by providing the IAEA with information required to clarify and resolve long-standing questions regarding undeclared nuclear material in Iran, as well as provide unrestricted access to its newly announced enrichment facility".

After last month's US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Iran announced it would create a new uranium enrichment centre.

The UN said Iran's decision to stop IAEA co-operation was "obviously concerning". Secretary General Antonio Guterres "has been very consistent in his call for Iran to co-operate with the IAEA", his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Germany, France and Britain "to reinstate all sanctions against Iran" under an earlier nuclear deal. Germany said Iran's decision to suspend co-operation with the IAE sends a "disastrous signal".

The law had been passed by Iran’s parliament and approved by a constitutional watchdog.

After the law's passage, Iran's Supreme National Security Council will oversee its implementation. The council has not said anything publicly, but Mr Pezeshkian is its leader, so his reported order indicates that the law will be implemented.

“The government is obligated to immediately suspend any co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency based on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its safeguards, until certain conditions are met, including ensuring the security of the facilities and scientists,” Iran's state-run Tasnim news agency said on Wednesday.

The IAEA has monitored Iran's nuclear energy programme for years. Tehran claims the programme is for peaceful, civilian purposes, but western powers suspect Iran is seeking to build a bomb. Tensions came to a head last month when Israel launched air strikes on Iran to cripple its nuclear infrastructure.

The US then entered the conflict by sending B-2 bombers to drop “bunker-buster” bombs on three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war, which ended in a ceasefire last Tuesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told US broadcaster CBS in an interview, part of which was released on Tuesday, that the Fordow nuclear plant has been “seriously and heavily damaged” by the US bombing, adding that the full picture was still unclear.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Fordow nuclear plant was 'heavily damaged' by US bombing. EPA

“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Mr Araghchi said.

“The Atomic Energy Organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran … is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government.”

US President Donald Trump has claimed the strikes on Fordow “obliterated” Iran's nuclear programme, but US officials have also acknowledged it will take time to form a complete assessment.

Fordow was the stronghold of Iran's nuclear energy programme and came to be seen as a symbol of defiance by the ruling regime against the international community, as well as a bargaining chip in diplomacy.

The site’s extreme fortification made it nearly impossible to attack without advanced bunker-busting weaponry, something only the US possesses.

On Sunday, The Washington Post quoted sources familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government as saying that intercepted Iranian communications had played down the extent of damage caused by the US strikes.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had previously said the US strikes were “a resounding success”, angrily pushing back against what he called “fake news” questioning their effectiveness. A preliminary US intelligence report was leaked to the press in the days after the attacks.

Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, negotiated under US president Barack Obama, allowed Iran to enrich uranium to 3.67 per cent – enough to fuel a nuclear power plant, but far below the threshold of 90 per cent needed for weapons-grade uranium. It also drastically reduced Iran’s stockpile of uranium, limited its use of centrifuges and relied on the IAEA to oversee Tehran’s compliance through additional oversight.

But Mr Trump, in his first term as president in 2018, unilaterally withdrew Washington from the accord, insisting it was not tough enough.

Thomas Watkins contributed to this report from Washington.