On Wednesday, Iran’s parliament passed a bill that would effectively suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a move that came in response to the US and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The bill now needs to be reviewed by Iran’s Guardian Council, and the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) will make the final decision on whether to implement the bill.
According to Iran’s PressTV, if the bill becomes law, Iran wouldn’t allow IAEA inspectors to enter the country unless the security of the country’s nuclear facilities and that of peaceful nuclear activities is guaranteed. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, criticized the IAEA for not formally condemning the attacks on Iran’s nuclear program.
“The IAEA, which did not even formally condemn the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, has put its international credibility up for sale; for this reason, the [Atomic Energy Organization of Iran] will suspend its cooperation with the Agency until the security of its nuclear facilities is guaranteed, and Iran’s peaceful nuclear program will proceed at an even faster pace,” Qalibaf said.
The passing of the bill comes as the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities that were bombed by the US is unclear. A preliminary US intelligence assessment says it likely set back the program by only a few months, but President Trump and his top officials dispute that assessment, which could change as more intelligence is gathered, claiming the facilities have been “obliterated.”
Since the US pulled out of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, Tehran has increased the activity of its civilian nuclear program in response to US and Israeli pressure. The US withdrew from the agreement in 2018, and after over a year, Tehran began slowly increasing its uranium enrichment levels beyond the 3.67% limit set by the deal.
Iran initially brought its uranium enrichment to 4.5% but raised it to 20% in 2021 following the Israeli assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Later that year, Iran began enriching some uranium at 60% in response to an Israeli covert attack on its Natanz nuclear facility. Natanz was one of the three facilities targeted by the US bombing, and Israel’s recent attacks on Iran killed at least 14 nuclear scientists, and some were killed along with their families.
Before Israel launched its war on Iran, US intelligence had no evidence that Tehran had decided to build a nuclear weapon. Hawks point to the 60% enrichment to claim that Iran was racing toward a bomb since it’s a step away from enriching at 90%, which is needed for weapons-grade uranium. But Iran made clear that it was willing to reduce enrichment levels back down to 3.67% as part of a deal with the US that includes sanctions relief.
Iran also made clear that there would be consequences related to its nuclear program if the US or Israel bombed its facilities. Ali Larijani, a senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, even suggested an attack could make Khamenei reverse his fatwa that bans the development of nuclear weapons.
“I think the US is making a strategic mistake. We have stated that there is both a fatwa and that we are working under the supervision of the IAEA, and we are not moving toward weapons,” Larijani said in April. “However, if you make a mistake regarding Iran’s nuclear issue, you will force Iran to take that step. You are creating this situation with your own actions. Iran does not want to pursue this path, but when you apply pressure, it creates a secondary justification, and Iran may have no choice but to respond to public demands for security.”
So far, there’s no sign that Khamenei is prepared to reverse the fatwa. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that Iran still was not seeking nuclear weapons but wouldn’t give up its “legitimate rights,” referring to its civilian nuclear program.
