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By Amira El-Fekki
Middle East News Reporter
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Iran has set a new condition for its nuclear oversight agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as it says it is redefining how it will allow inspections and monitoring, following recent attacks on its nuclear facilities.
Iran and the IAEA finalized on Tuesday a technical agreement in Cairo to resume inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities. However, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that a new agreement reached with the U.N. watchdog could be nullified.
Newsweek has reached out to Iran's foreign ministry and the IAEA for comment.
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Why It Matters
Inspectors remain restricted from accessing nuclear sites except Bushehr, to oversee fuel change. Tehran says the new terms emerged from recent attacks on its nuclear facilities, after which it suspended cooperation with the agency and inspectors pulled out.
Iran passed a law suspending mandatory cooperation and now requires its Supreme National Security Council approval for all inspections.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told the Board of Governors in Vienna on Monday that domestic legislation cannot override Iran's commitments to the agency.
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What To Know
"This document and its continuation are conditional on no hostile action being taken against the Islamic Republic of Iran. For instance, if the so-called snapback mechanism is activated, the implementation of this document will also be halted," Araghchi told Iranian media.
The minister was referring to possible sanctions that may be imposed as a result of the mechanism recently invoked on August 28 by E3 countries—France, Germany and the U.K.
The new arrangement reflected both Iran's concerns and the agency's technical requirement, according to both Araghchi and Grossi, who described the move as a step into the right direction.
The document provides technical matters related to the process of inspections for all nuclear facilities in Iran.
The Iranian official also said that the framework for collaboration with the IAEA, hinges on the "the avoidance of unlawful and provocative steps," in a Wednesday post on his X account.
For several decades, Iran's nuclear program has caused international concern. Iran has said that its nuclear program is peaceful, but it is the only non-nuclear-armed nation enriching uranium to a high level.
And in June, a prominent Chinese commentator said Iran's leadership should reconsider its nuclear ambitions.
Iranian nuclear activities, even if they are for civilian use, "will be difficult to continue. From a realist perspective, Iran should rethink its nuclear path," said former Global Times editor Hu Xijin, who led the nationalistic state-run newspaper from 2005-2021.
What People Are Saying
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian media, as quoted by the semi-official Mehr news Agency: "As one of the members of the NPT and based on previous agreements, we always cooperated with the Agency, and our program has also been peaceful and under the Agency's supervision.
"However, after the attack, conditions changed, and in talks with the Agency, we emphasized that cooperation can no longer continue as before, and that a new framework must be defined for it."
IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi told the Board of Governors on Wednesday: "Resuming this indispensable work would not be an automatic or simple bureaucratic process, as you can imagine, after what happened. Also, as you all know, the parliament of Iran adopted a law to suspend cooperation with the agency. This risks putting us before the real possibility of Iran failing to observe and comply with its safeguards obligations... This would not be a situation we would like to see given its multiple and inevitably negative consequences."
What Happens Next
Further talks are expected regarding the details of the Cairo agreement while the E3 stated that they will utilize the 30-day period to engage with Iran diplomatically before snapback sanctions are automatically restored.
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