TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday that the UN’s nuclear watchdog would not be given access to Iranian nuclear sites attacked during its recent war with Israel without a concrete deal being agreed.
The interview with the Khabar Online news agency was conducted before the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution on Thursday demanding access to the sites.
The resolution’s purpose was primarily to renew and adjust the IAEA’s mandate to report on aspects of Iran’s nuclear programme, but it also stated Tehran must quickly provide the nuclear watchdog with answers and access it wants, five months after air strikes by Israel and the US.
“The facilities that were attacked have their own story, and until a decision is made and a conclusion is reached between us, the IAEA and others, cooperation is not possible,” he said in an interview posted to his Telegram channel, without elaborating on what such an agreement would entail.
In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.
In the aftermath, Tehran suspended its cooperation with the IAEA and restricted the watchdog’s inspectors from accessing the bombed sites, accusing it of bias and failing to condemn the strikes.
“The fact that they came and attacked and left… and now the agency comes to prepare a report for them on where (was attacked) and what happened and how much damage was done is not possible, it is clearly not wise,” he added.
In September, Iran and the IAEA agreed on a new cooperation framework, but weeks later Tehran deemed it invalid after Britain, France and Germany triggered the return of UN sanctions that had been lifted under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.
The war derailed high-level nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington that had begun in April, during which the two sides were at odds over Iran’s right to enrich uranium, which Tehran defends as “undeniable”.
Since the June war, Iran has repeatedly said it is open to restarting talks, but only if they take place on “equal footing”.
During the interview, Araghchi said the US demands remain “detrimental to our national interests”, ruling out any talks on its missile programme or other “defence capabilities”.
“Negotiating about missiles, for example, to reduce them, to reduce their range, to reduce their number, there is no greater betrayal than this,” he said.
He added talks with European governments were “no longer useful” after they triggered the snapback sanctions.
The IAEA cannot inspect the bombed facilities or verify Iran’s uranium stock until Tehran submits a report updating it on what has happened to them. The bombed sites include Iran’s three enrichment plants that were operating at the time.
