Iran says nuclear cooperation with IAEA 'No longer relevant' after sanctions return
The agreement had been intended to restore inspections and monitoring suspended after Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities in June
Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday that cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog had become "no longer relevant" after European powers reinstated international sanctions, a move Tehran says undermines talks on its nuclear programme.
"The Cairo agreement is no longer relevant for our cooperation with the IAEA," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told foreign diplomats in Tehran, referring to a framework deal signed last month with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The agreement had been intended to restore inspections and monitoring suspended after Israeli and US attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities in June. But it has since lost weight after Britain, France and Germany triggered the "snapback" mechanism under the 2015 nuclear accord, reimposing UN sanctions, reports Al Jazeera.
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"The three European countries thought they had leverage in their hands," Araghchi said. "Now they have used this lever and seen the results. They have definitely diminished their role and almost eliminated the justification for negotiations with them."
Iran has accused the IAEA of applying double standards, pointing to what it said was the agency's silence on Israeli strikes against its nuclear sites. Western states, led by the United States and backed by Israel, have long alleged that Iran seeks nuclear weapons – a charge Tehran denies, insisting its programme is civilian in nature.
Some Iranian lawmakers have floated withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), though President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran remains committed to its obligations, says Al Jazeera.
Araghchi said Iran would announce its decision on cooperation with the IAEA at a later stage but added that "there is still room for diplomacy."
Indirect talks between Iran and the United States to revive the nuclear deal collapsed in June after Israeli strikes targeted Iranian nuclear, military and residential sites. Tehran has since demanded guarantees from Washington before any new negotiations.
Israel is widely believed to hold an undeclared nuclear arsenal, while Iran maintains it has no intention of developing atomic weapons.
