A view of Iran's parliament in session. (File photo)
Iran’s parliament (Majlis) has approved a bill to suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) following its politically-motivated resolution against the Islamic Republic.
The general and specific provisions of the bill to suspend cooperation with the IAEA have been approved by lawmakers, said Alireza Salimi, a member of the parliament’s presiding board, on Wednesday.
According to the parliament’s resolution, IAEA inspectors will not be permitted to enter Iran unless the security of the country's nuclear facilities and that of peaceful nuclear activities is guaranteed, which is subject to the approval of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Before Wednesday’s voting, Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, denounced the IAEA for failing to condemn US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“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 AEOI 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,” he stated.
“With the utmost skepticism, we will not be deceived by any promise, and more prepared than ever, with our finger on the trigger, we will respond forcefully to any aggressor.”
The speaker also stressed that Israel not only failed to stop Iran’s enrichment and limit its missile program but also suffered unprecedented damage to its military infrastructure, with cities across the occupied territories becoming unsafe and the myth of the Iron Dome shattered.
He further emphasized that Iran’s offensive capabilities have made the occupiers restless, destroying any sense of security or hope for the future there. Touching on the ongoing ceasefire, he stressed that Washington sought a truce after Iran’s response targeted the US’s military base in Qatar with advanced missiles.
Qalibaf added that Iran has yet to use its full capabilities, including influence over the global energy economy.
“Backed by the support of all Iranians at home and abroad, the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran made the Zionist regime miserable by aggravating its existential crisis and deterred the US from further aggression against Iran, fulfilling the true promise of the wise Leader of the Revolution,” he asserted.
The vote comes a few days after Qalibaf said the top legislative body was considering a bill to suspend Tehran’s cooperation with the UN agency.
“Majlis (the Iranian Parliament) is drafting a plan to suspend cooperation with the agency until tangible guarantees regarding the professional attitude of this international organization are received,” Qalibaf said during an open session of the parliament on Monday.
Iran is also considering an entry ban on the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, who has come under fire for facilitating the Israeli-American aggression against Iran.
Kowsari, a senior lawmaker, said on Monday that he has urged the Supreme National Security Council to impose an entry ban on Grossi.
Based on Grossi’s politically-motivated reports, the IAEA Board of Governors passed an anti-Iran resolution days ahead of the Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic.
It was the first claim of non-compliance against Iran in nearly 20 years, falsely accusing the country of violating safeguards obligations, with the measure adopted by 19 votes in favor, 11 abstentions, and 3 countries opposed (Russia, China, and Burkina Faso).
The controversial resolution, pushed by the European troika – Britain, France and Germany - and backed by the United States, prompted strong condemnations from the Islamic Republic and led to announcements of a new nuclear facility and upgradation of centrifuges to an advanced level at the Fordow enrichment plant.
Grossi’s political and biased report and the subsequent resolution, according to analysts, facilitated the Israeli regime’s brutal aggression on June 13, leading to the assassination of several nuclear scientists as well as high-ranking military commanders.
After the Israeli aggression, including against the Natanz nuclear plant in central Iran, the UN nuclear agency chief stopped short of unequivocally condemning the terrorist act, which was in brazen violation of international law.
He also refused to condemn the American aggression against three key Iranian nuclear sites—Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—using B-2 stealth bombers armed with Massive Ordnance Penetrators and cruise missiles.
While Israel and the White House claimed that the strikes destroyed the facilities, a preliminary intelligence report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said that the strikes caused less damage than publicly claimed by US President Donald Trump and his administration.
The initial assessment also said that the strikes likely set Tehran’s nuclear program back by only a matter of months.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said the head of the UN nuclear watchdog has become "a tool in the hands of the Zionist regime and the US” and thus an accomplice in their crimes against the Iranian nation.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Grossi has "betrayed" the non-proliferation regime and made the IAEA "a partner to an unjust war of aggression."
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, stressed that Tehran will take all necessary legal measures to defend its rights and hold the IAEA chief responsible for failing to act in the face of the Israeli onslaught on the country.
In a letter to Grossi last Thursday, Eslami addressed the issue of the IAEA’s lack of action over continued Israeli aggression against the country, including attacks on nuclear sites.
He said the Israeli regime’s attacks on Iranian nuclear sites constitute a clear violation of Geneva Convention and related protocols, UN Charter and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Works of Atomic Weapons, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Non-Proliferation Agreement between Iran and the UN agency, the safety standards of the UN agency and other relevant international conventions.
Former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif also took to X to denounce Grossi’s “irresponsible and fallacious" IAEA report, which he said caused “irreparable damage to the agency.”
“He must be held accountable for his complicity in the death of innocents in Iran caused by Israeli aggression using his report as a pretext," Zarif wrote.
