On July 3, the President of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, issued a directive to halt all collaborations with the IAEA in response to attacks on the significant nuclear installations in Iran. This came about as the U.S. launched a triplet of airstrikes on crucial Iranian nuclear locations while Israel concurrently prosecuted an air campaign against Iran. The forthcoming negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the International Atomic Energy Agency were forecasted by Iran’s Foreign Ministry as being both technically intricate and convoluted, foregoing any explicit engagements with the nuclear watchdog since Tehran discontinued ties with them last month.
Debates between the two institutions have undergone a drastic degradation in quality, especially after the 12-day air combat initiated by Israel and the U.S. during June. This military action led to the bombing of prime Iranian nuclear infrastructure. As early as June 12, the IAEA board asserted that Iran had deviated from its commitments to non-proliferation. This claim was followed shortly by a round of Israeli aerial bombardments over Iran, which ignited the conflict.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, however, refrained from immediate communication regarding a scheduled visit by the deputy head of the agency, which notably did not feature any proposed access to the Iranian nuclear facilities. It remained uncertain as to whether an encounter with Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi would transpire, as Esmail Baghaei, the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, informed the press. He stated that forecasting the outcomes of these complex technical discussions would be premature at this point.
Baghaei further drew attention to the IAEA’s peculiar position during the June conflict with Israel. Particularly, he elaborated the concern surrounding the agency’s lack of definitive response when peaceful facilities under 24-hour surveillance had been targeted. Whereas the agency had given silent consent by not portraying the necessary wisdom and rationality in issuing a condemnation. This act of omission on the part of the IAEA was severely scrutinized.
Abbas Aragchi earlier made public that any future collaboration with the agency would necessitate an endorsement from Iran’s apex security institution, namely, the Supreme National Security Council. This integration would largely configure the framework for interaction between the two counterparts. A subsequent decision in this direction is anticipated to place more restraints on the agency’s ability to monitor Tehran’s nuclear program, especially considering that uranium enrichment at weapon-grade levels was already in progress.
Iranian President Pezeshkian reiterated his command to discontinue IAEA cooperation on July 3. The United States, under this backdrop, attacked three of Iran’s major nuclear facilities by air while Israel engaged in an air war against Iran. These events incurred the loss of nearly 1,100 lives, consisting of several military chiefs.
Iran retaliated as well. A spate of strikes from Iran resulted in the demise of 28 individuals in Israel. Iran’s recurring tactics of allowing limited IAEA inspections to pressure the West during negotiations were noteworthy. However, it remains an open question as to the resumption of talks between Tehran and Washington for an agreement to oversee its nuclear operations.
As diplomatically assessed by U.S. intelligence agencies along with the IAEA, Iran had last executed an organized nuclear weapons program in 2003. Post this period, it was noted that Iran had escalated the enrichment of uranium to a considerable 60%. This elevation brought Iran within close proximity of achieving a weapons-grade enrichment level of 90%.
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