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FM says Iran ‘cannot completely’ break with IAEA
The remarks came nearly two months after Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following Israel’s 12-day aggression against Iran.
Tehran said the IAEA effectively paved the way for the Israel-US strikes with a report on May 31 that led the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
Iran also denounced the IAEA’s failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities as a reason for its decision, which saw the watchdog’s inspectors leave the country following the passing of new legislation by the Iranian Parliament.
“We cannot completely cut cooperation with the agency,” Araghchi said, noting that new fuel rods need to be installed at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant in the coming weeks which will require the presence of IAEA inspectors.
“Under the law passed by Parliament, the return of (IAEA) inspectors will be possible through a decision of the Supreme National Security Council,” he told IRNA news agency in an interview published Wednesday, referring to Iran’s top security body.
On June 13, Israel launched an unprovoked assault on Iran, striking not only nuclear and military sites but also residential neighborhoods. The attacks that lasted for 12 days, took the lives of nearly 1,100 Iranians.
Shortly afterward, the United States carried out its own strikes on Iran’s Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear facilities.
The war derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States on a new nuclear deal to replace the one abandoned by President Donald Trump during his first term in 2018.
Iran has since said cooperation with the agency will take “a new form” and earlier this month the agency’s deputy head visited Tehran for talks.
At the time, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iran and the agency had agreed to “continue consultations.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday Iran and the IAEA will probably have another round of negotiations in the coming days.