After the United States conducted surprise bombings on three crucial nuclear facilities in Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran pronounced a temporary standstill on collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on July 3rd. This announcement marked a rise in the tensions that had escalated as Israel dipped into a swift air skirmish with Iran. Ahead of the nuclear oversight body’s initial visit, since breaking ties with Iran, the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs projected the forthcoming discussions to be intricate and technical.
The interactions between Iran and the global nuclear watchdog deteriorated following the launch of a twelve-day aerial conflict by Israel and the US in June. This fierce assault targeted crucial nuclear infrastructures across Iran. A day before Israel’s ruthless bombing in Iran which ignited the conflict, the IAEA board, on June 12, denounced Iran for violating its undertaking to prevent nuclear proliferation.
The deputy head of the agency is expected to visit, but there is no foreseen provision for access to the scrutinized nuclear sites in Iran. The IAEA refrained from making an immediate public comment about the visit. The silence surrounding the access to nuclear plants is raising eyebrows. Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, hinted at a potential meeting with Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi but cautioned against making any prediction about the outcome of the upcoming discussions.
The spokesperson also blasted the IAEA for its ‘extraordinary predicament’ during the air war in June with Israel. He made a strong remark, expressing his discontent over the IAEA’s lack of a ‘smart and rational’ response. He claimed that despite being under round the clock surveillance, Iran’s peaceful facilities were targeted, but the agency failed to condemn the attack strongly.
Aragchi had earlier mentioned that the cooperation with the agency, now subject to sanction by Iran’s apex security body, the Supreme National Security Council, would aim to redefine the modalities of collaboration between the two parties. This decision hints at curtailing the investigators’ scope to monitor Tehran’s nuclear project, which has been noted to enrich uranium to near weapon-grade levels.
The order from President Pezeshkian instructing the country to call off its alliance with the IAEA came following the US’s bombing on Iran’s nuclear facilities. As a consequence of the air war that broke out between Iran and Israel, nearly 1100 lives were lost, including a large number of military officials.
The retaliation from Iran against this attack took 28 lives in Israel. Iran, in the past, has given IAEA only limited inspection permissions as a strategic move in negotiations with the western countries. It remains uncertain when the conversations concerning the nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran would recommence.
The IAEA, along with US intelligence agencies, has analyzed that Iran last had a systematized program dedicated to nuclear weapons in 2003. Despite this, Iran continued the enrichment of uranium, reaching up to 60% – a phase that’s just a technical leap away from the weapon-grade threshold of 90% purity.
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