Iran’s parliament has voted to suspend the country’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The parliamentary vote came as the country insists it will not give up its civilian nuclear programme.
The move on Wednesday came after a US and Qatar-brokered ceasefire between Iran and Israel ended 12 days of hostilities, including a US military intervention that struck three Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei explained that parliament voted to suspend – not end – cooperation with the IAEA, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
He said the US had “torpedoed diplomacy” and could no longer be trusted, citing extensive attack on the country’s nuclear infrastructure.
The foreign minister reaffirmed Iran’s right to pursue peaceful nuclear energy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
On the bill passed by the parliament, Baghaei said it sets conditions for Iran’s future engagement with the IAEA, including guarantees for the safety and security of Iranian scientists and nuclear facilities.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf criticised the IAEA for having “refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities” that the US carried out.
“For this reason, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will suspend cooperation with the IAEA until security of nuclear facilities is ensured, and Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme will move forward at a faster pace,” Ghalibaf told lawmakers.
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes, and both US intelligence agencies and the IAEA had concluded that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb.
