Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed criticism of Tehran’s decision to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and said his country is committed to oversight of its nuclear program.
The U.S. State Department had called Tehran’s decision “unacceptable”.
Araghchi was responding on X to the German Foreign Office, which said the decision to suspend cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog “eliminates any possibility of international oversight” of Iran’s nuclear program.
“Fake news,” Araghchi said in his post on Thursday, July 3. “Iran remains committed to the NPT and its Safeguards Agreement.”
Iran is a signatory of the NPT, or Non-Proliferation Treaty, a commitment not to seek nuclear weapons. Through the NPT’s safeguards agreements, the IAEA monitors and verifies that signatories are meeting their obligations not to acquire a nuclear weapon.
Iran Signs IAEA Suspension
On Wednesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA, after parliament had voted in favor of the bill previously.
Araghchi said the new law meant cooperation with the IAEA “will be channeled through Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons” after Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear facilities.
“We are aware of these reports,” an IAEA spokesman told Newsweek after the law was signed. “The IAEA is awaiting further official information from Iran.”
Iran could use the suspension of normal IAEA cooperation as leverage in future negotiations on its nuclear program, though no talks are currently due after Tehran rejected President Donald Trump’s offer to restart diplomacy immediately on the issue.
The Iranian foreign ministry had earlier warned that it was unrealistic for the IAEA to expect a return to normal cooperation so soon after the strikes by the U.S. and Israel, and that it could not guarantee the safety and security of nuclear inspectors.
Iran ‘Will Not Have a Nuclear Weapon’
Israel and the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities, resulting in what Trump has described as “total obliteration” of three sites: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Israel said Iran had nuclear ambitions that posed an existential threat to its existence.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes. But it has stockpiles of uranium that it has enriched well beyond what is needed for energy, and close to weapons-grade, putting it a step away from developing a bomb if it chose to do so.
The ultimate success of the U.S. and Israeli strikes, and so Trump’s decision to intervene militarily, depends on how Iran chooses to react. Some analysts fear this action will accelerate Iranian efforts to build a nuclear weapon, with hardliners in Tehran now viewing it as an urgent priority.
But the Trump Administration says Iran has been set back years by the strikes, and that it will act again to prevent any future enrichment or reconstruction of the nuclear facilities if it needs to.
“It is unacceptable that Iran chose to suspend cooperation with the IAEA at a time when it has a window of opportunity to reverse course and choose a path of peace and prosperity,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Wednesday, July 2. “Iran must cooperate fully, without further delay.”
Bruce added: “It is worth repeating, as we’ve made tremendous strides to this through Donald Trump’s leadership, Iran cannot and will not have a nuclear weapon.”