On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution demanding that Iran allow inspectors to reach sites bombed by Israel and the US. Tehran responded by withdrawing from an inspections agreement with the international nuclear watchdog.
The IAEA passed the US-backed resolution to demand increased inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities. “Iran must … provide the Agency without delay with precise information on nuclear material accountancy and safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran, and grant the Agency all access it requires to verify this information,” a draft of the resolution published by Reuters said.
The IAEA was conducting extensive inspections of Iran’s nuclear program under the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. While President Donald Trump withdrew from the program in 2018, Tehran continued to allow the IAEA to inspect its nuclear facilities.
In June, Israel launched an aggressive war against Iran, which was later joined by the US. Washington and Tel Aviv targeted several nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic. In response, Tehran terminated an agreement reached with the IAEA in September to restart some inspections.
“Today, in an official letter to the Director-General of the Agency, it was announced that this understanding is no longer valid and is considered terminated,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said. “With this action of theirs and their disregard for Iran’s interactions and goodwill, these countries have damaged the agency’s credibility and independence and are causing disruption in the process of the agency’s interactions and cooperation with Iran.”
Iran limits its nuclear program to civilian purposes. Still, Washington and Tel Aviv assert that Tehran was weeks away from obtaining a nuclear warhead. While the IAEA has confirmed the Islamic Republic does not have nuclear weapons, Israel has an uninspected nuclear weapons stockpile.
