Iran will no longer allow the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi to visit its nuclear facilities and will not allow the installation of surveillance cameras, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hamid Reza Haji Babai said, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported.
According to him, quoted by the agency, Western pressure on Iran, including IAEA actions, is allegedly part of the “US enmity against the Iranian people.”
Iran’s parliament on 25 June approved halting cooperation with the agency. IAEA inspectors are denied access to nuclear facilities until, Tehran claims, their safety is guaranteed and the peaceful nature of the programme is confirmed.
The IAEA has not yet commented on the announcement.
The decision was a continuation of a political conflict with the West, in which Iran sees the agency not as a neutral party but as a tool of pressure.
Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This status implies that IAEA workers have the right to conduct inspections at the country’s nuclear facilities. Until recently, the agency’s inspectors monitored Iran’s nuclear facilities. The IAEA has also assessed the damage caused to Iran’s nuclear facilities by recent Israeli strikes.
Iran’s nuclear programme dates back to the 1950s, but since the early 2000s the country has been repeatedly accused of seeking to build weapons. In 2015, a nuclear agreement was signed that limited uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. In 2018, the US unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, after which Iran resumed nuclear development.
Before the recent military escalation, Tehran and Washington negotiated a return to the agreement, but to no avail. Amid rising tensions, Iran limited inspections and began producing near weapons-grade uranium.