Iran vetting body okays bill suspending UN nuclear watchdog cooperation
The bill will now be submitted to President Masoud Pezeshkian for final ratification
The Iranian body tasked with vetting legislation approved a bill to suspend cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Thursday, citing recent US and Israeli strikes.
Iranian lawmakers voted in favour of the bill on Wednesday, a day after a ceasefire ended a 12-day war with Israel that saw Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
Since the start of the war on June 13, Iranian officials have sharply criticised the International Atomic Energy Agency for failing to condemn the strikes.
Iran has also criticised the watchdog for passing a resolution on June 12 accusing it of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations.
Iranian officials say the censure motion was “one of the main excuses” for the Israeli and US attacks.
“The government is required to suspend all cooperation with the IAEA to ensure full respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Guardian Council spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif told the official IRNA news agency.
He said the move was prompted by the “attacks … by the Zionist regime and the United States against peaceful nuclear facilities”.