Iran cannot be expected to guarantee the security of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) days after nuclear sites were hit by Israeli and US strikes, its foreign ministry’s spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday (Jun 30).
It also cannot ensure its usual cooperation with the agency, he added.
Iran has said that it believes an IAEA resolution on Jun 12 that accused it of ignoring its nuclear obligations served as an “excuse” for the war that Israel launched on Jun 13 and that ended with a fragile ceasefire last week.
Tehran has accused Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, of “betrayal of his duties” for not condemning the Israeli and US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, and Iranian lawmakers this week voted to suspend cooperation with the agency.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites was “meaningless and possibly even malign in intent”.
Speaking to American broadcaster CBS on Sunday, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, denied that there was any threat to nuclear inspectors in Iran, insisting they were “in safe conditions” but that their work was suspended.
