Iranʼs Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said on September 20 that due to the actions of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany to restore UN sanctions, Iran will "effectively stop" cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The statement by the Supreme National Security Council was broadcast on television, The Times of Israel reports.
The move comes after the Security Council voted on Friday to reinstate suspended UN sanctions against Iran. The sanctions, which were temporarily lifted in exchange for curbs on Iranʼs nuclear program, will be reimposed on September 28 unless Iran can convince the UN council to lift them next week.
In response, Tehran said the European powersʼ actions undermined months of engagement with the IAEA, which was aimed at restoring monitoring and ensuring compliance with international rules. Earlier this month, Iran and the IAEA reached an agreement in Cairo that would allow for the resumption of inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran suspended IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities after a series of attacks in June by Israel and then the United States, targeting Iranʼs top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment facilities and ballistic missile program.
Tehran has criticized the IAEA for failing to condemn the Israeli and US airstrikes. However, in July, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said his country would cooperate with the IAEA, despite restrictions imposed by the Iranian parliament. He stressed that cooperation would take place in a new format — under the leadership and control of the Supreme National Security Council.
Iranʼs nuclear program
The Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2015 by the US, UK, Russia, France, China, Germany and the EU. They agreed that the Iranian authorities would give up their nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Iran nuclear deal and launched a "maximum pressure" campaign — new sanctions against the Iranian regime in order to obtain significant concessions from it.
Tehran resumed uranium production after Trump pulled out of the deal. Under Joe Biden’s presidency, Iran’s nuclear program has “advanced significantly”, Axios noted.
The Biden administration has been conducting indirect talks with Iran to revive the Iran nuclear deal. Those efforts collapsed in late 2022 when the United States accused Iran of making “unfounded” demands related to an International Atomic Energy Agency investigation into unexplained traces of uranium found at undisclosed Iranian sites. In the months that followed, the Trump administration maintained that the Iran nuclear deal was “off the table”.
After his re-election to a second term, Trump renewed his “maximum pressure” campaign. The parties held several rounds of talks, but never concluded a new nuclear agreement. And after the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Tehran rejects the resumption of negotiations.
- IAEA believes that Iran is capable of resuming its nuclear program within months of the American strikes on its facilities.
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