IRAN – Iranian authorities are weighing their next steps following an agreement with the global nuclear watchdog, while urging regional states to move beyond issuing statements in response to Israel’s attack on Qatar.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to attend an emergency meeting of parliament’s national security commission on Saturday evening, where hardline lawmakers are demanding clarity on whether the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be allowed to inspect nuclear sites bombed by the United States and Israel in June. He is expected to reassure the hardline-dominated parliament that no access will be granted without strict approval from Iran’s top leadership.
Araghchi reached an agreement with the IAEA in Cairo on Tuesday aimed at resuming cooperation that had been suspended after Tehran accused the agency and its chief, Rafael Grossi, of facilitating the strikes. Grossi told the IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday that the technical agreement covers “all facilities and installations in Iran” and includes “the required reporting on all the attacked facilities, including the nuclear material present.”
However, Araghchi told Iranian state television that inspectors will not have access to nuclear sites beyond the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. He stressed that case-by-case approval must be granted by the Supreme National Security Council, which includes the president, the heads of parliament and the judiciary, several ministers, military commanders, and appointees of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Araghchi also confirmed that Iran’s highly enriched uranium is “under the rubble of bombed facilities,” adding that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is assessing whether those sites are accessible or contaminated.
Amir Hayat Moghadam, a hardline member of the national security commission, claimed that Araghchi said Iran would withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if United Nations sanctions were reimposed, according to the state-linked Tabnak news website. The foreign ministry has acknowledged that legislation is being prepared to potentially abandon the global non-proliferation pact, but stressed that such a move would only be finalized if the “snapback” mechanism of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers is triggered by European states. (Aljazeera)
