Iran enacts law suspending cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog
World
Iranian President put into effect a law passed by parliament to suspend cooperation with IAEA
(Reuters) - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian put into effect on Wednesday a law passed by parliament last week to suspend cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, Iranian state media reported.
Iran has threatened to halt cooperation with the IAEA, accusing it of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel's air strikes, which began a day after the IAEA board voted to declare Iran in violation of obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The law stipulates that any future inspection of Iran's nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency needs approval by Tehran's Supreme National Security Council.
FM ACKNOWLEDGES ‘SERIOUS DAMAGE’ TO FORDOW NUCLEAR SITE
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview that the U.S. bombing of Iran's key Fordow nuclear site has "seriously and heavily damaged" the facility.
"No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged," Araqchi said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday.
"The Atomic Energy Organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran... is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government."
Intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by US strikes on Iran's nuclear programme, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government.
President Donald Trump has said the strikes "completely and totally obliterated" Iran's nuclear programme, but US officials acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of the damage caused by the US military strikes last weekend.
