Tehran remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has not ended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), despite new legislation passed in response to Israeli and US military strikes, Iranian foreign minister said Thursday.
“Iran remains committed to the NPT and its Safeguards Agreement,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, calling reports of a full suspension “fake news.”
He said that, under the new law passed by parliament, Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA will now be coordinated through the Supreme National Security Council, citing security concerns following Israeli and US attacks on nuclear facilities.
The remarks came after Germany’s foreign ministry said Iran’s move “sends a devastating message” and “eliminates any possibility of international oversight” of its nuclear program.
Araghchi accused Germany of siding with Israel and the US, saying Berlin had supported strikes on safeguarded nuclear sites and “repudiated” its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal by demanding “zero enrichment” in Iran. “To Iranians, what truly ‘sends a devastating message’ is Germany’s support for unlawful attacks,” he said.
Following the strikes, Iran passed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA under its safeguards agreement unless its security demands are met. The agency said inspectors remain in the country and it awaits formal clarification.
“The Parliament of Iran has voted for a halt to collaboration with the IAEA until the safety and security of our nuclear activities can be guaranteed,” Araghchi wrote on X following the passage of the law.
Iranian officials have since sharply escalated criticism of the IAEA, with a senior judiciary official threatening Director General Grossi with trial in absentia, and a hardline newspaper calling for his arrest and execution. France, Germany, and the UK issued a joint statement condemning the threats.
US says strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program
The Pentagon said Wednesday that last month’s airstrikes on Iran’s key nuclear sites had set back its program by up to two years.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said. “All of the intelligence that we've seen leads us to believe those facilities, especially, have been completely obliterated.”
The June 22 strikes hit Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan with bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that Fordow sustained “serious and heavy damage,” though he insisted Iran would not back down from enrichment, which he described as a source of “national pride and glory.”
