For the first time in 20 years, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has ceased inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities due to a new law by the ayatollah regime. Western countries are preparing a strong reaction. This is reported by Bloomberg, citing sources, as reported by UNN.
Details
On Thursday, July 4, the IAEA announced the withdrawal of its last inspectors from Iran, intensifying the information isolation surrounding the nuclear program of this Middle Eastern country.
A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the publication that the inspectors were recalled due to a new Iranian law that could potentially criminalize the activities of international monitoring missions in the nuclear energy sector. This decision is expected to provoke a negative reaction from Western governments.
An IAEA statement said that all agency staff safely left Tehran on Friday and arrived at headquarters in Vienna. The document also emphasized the critical importance of resuming negotiations with the Iranian side as soon as possible.
The IAEA's decision to withdraw from Iran came the day after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that his country would continue cooperation with the agency, raising questions about the scope of the law and its legal status. According to the legislation, cooperation with the IAEA is suspended for three months for review.
According to Bloomberg, Iran's relations with the IAEA and its Director General Rafael Grossi have sharply deteriorated since the beginning of Israeli attacks on Iran, which the United States joined on June 22, dropping more than a dozen 30-ton bombs on key nuclear facilities.
Iranian officials accused the agency and Grossi personally of complicity in Israel's actions, claiming that the latest IAEA report served as a pretext for the attacks. Grossi himself categorically rejected these accusations.
As another official told the publication, in recent days, security concerns have grown among the small group of inspectors who remained in Tehran, especially after calls from Iran to hold Grossi accountable.
According to the source, the inspectors have already left the official hotel and were moved to a classified location. Their departure coincided with the first day of the opening of Iran's airspace for commercial aviation after a three-week break.
Until this moment, 274 accredited IAEA inspectors had carried out checks to verify the placement of 409 kilograms of uranium enriched almost to a level suitable for creating nuclear weapons. Currently, its storage location is unknown.
It is noted that this is the first time since Iran began enriching uranium almost twenty years ago that IAEA inspectors have been forced to leave the country after about 500 inspections in 2024.
Iran's Permanent Representative in Vienna stated that the airstrikes by Israel and the US caused irreparable damage to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) — an international agreement that guarantees non-nuclear-weapon states access to relevant technologies in exchange for inspections by the IAEA.
Although Iran has not yet left the NPT, it may argue its right to suspend monitoring under the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which allows parties to suspend cooperation in case of violation of their rights. It is widely recognized internationally that attacks on nuclear facilities violate legal norms.
Further reaction to Iran's legal arguments, particularly from the IAEA, could influence whether the truce with Israel holds. Hostilities ceased on June 24 after 12 days of conflict, but neither side rules out their resumption.
To deter a probable new attack, Iran may use the uncertainty regarding the location of its highly enriched uranium to influence developments.
"To obtain reliable information about the state and placement of this stockpile, the US and Israel will have to obtain information about its state and location, as well as conduct physical inspections and verification, likely through agreed access for the IAEA," Bloomberg noted.
Recall
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA. This decision could be a leverage in future negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.