Iranian parliament votes to end ties with UN nuclear watchdog

Iran’s parliament voted in favour of a bill on June 25th to end ties with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Reuters reported via the state-affiliated news organisation Nournews.

The Parliament’s national security committee okayed the bill’s overall outline. Ebrahim Rezaei, the committee’s spokesperson, said the bill would suspend the installation of surveillance cameras, inspections, and the filing of reports to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Reuters reported on June 23rd. However, so far there are no concrete plans to enact the bill, as it effectively remains symbolic while it is currently unapproved by senior figures in the government.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, criticised the IAEA for failing to condemn Israeli and US attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. And accused it of having “put its international credibility up for sale”.

Iran has denied developing nuclear weapons and says a resolution adopted earlier in June by the IAEA declared that Iran had violated its non-proliferation obligations, facilitated Israeli attacks.

Qalibaf said “for this reason, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the Agency until the security of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed, and move at a faster pace with the country’s peaceful nuclear programme”.

Much has changed since May 28th, when Maghrebi reported that Iran was considering allowing the IAEA to send US inspectors to parts of Iran if the now-failed US-Iranian talks had been successful.

Now, as a leaked Pentagon report emerged suggesting possible failures within US attacks on Iran, according to ITV on June 25th, Iran is expelling external observation of its nuclear programme.

Reuters, Maghrebi.org, ITV News, Nournews