Iran says national security council must greenlight any inspections, now limited only to Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.
Tehran, Iran – Iran’s authorities are discussing what comes next following an agreement with the global nuclear watchdog, as they urge the region to go beyond issuing statements in reaction to Israel’s attack on Qatar.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is heading to an emergency meeting of the parliament’s national security commission on Saturday evening, with hardline lawmakers looking for answers as to whether the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be allowed to access nuclear sites bombed by the United States and Israel in June.
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He is expected to reassure the hardline-dominated parliament that no access will be given to the IAEA without strict permission from the top echelon.
Araghchi had reached an agreement with the IAEA in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, to try to resume cooperation that had been suspended after Tehran accused the nuclear watchdog and its chief, Rafael Grossi, of having paved the way for the strikes.
Grossi told the IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday that the technical agreement includes “all facilities and installations in Iran” and “contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities, including the nuclear material present”.
But Araghchi told Iranian state television that agency inspectors have no access to Iranian nuclear sites beyond the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.
He said case-by-case permission would have to be granted by the country’s Supreme National Security Council, which includes the president, parliament and judiciary chiefs, several ministers, military commanders and those appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Araghchi also confirmed that Iran’s high-enriched uranium is “under the rubble of bombed facilities”, and said the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is investigating and assessing whether the sites are accessible or contaminated.
Europe’s ‘snapback’ and Iranian threats
Amir Hayat Moghadam, a hardline member of the parliament’s national security commission, claimed that Araghchi said Iran will leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if United Nations sanctions are reinstated against the country, according to the state-linked Tabnak news website, ahead of the meeting on Saturday.
Araghchi and the foreign ministry have confirmed that legislation is in motion aimed at abandoning the global non-proliferation pact, but that finalising such a move would only potentially come if the “snapback” mechanism of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers is abused by European countries.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom triggered the snapback mechanism in late August and were slammed by China and Russia, the other signatories to the landmark nuclear accord that the US unilaterally abandoned in 2018.
The European countries, known as the E3, gave Iran one month to reach a new agreement over its nuclear programme or face international sanctions.
Iran maintains that the three would lose legitimacy if they go through with the threat, and will “empower the US and marginalise Europe in future diplomatic engagements”.
Despite the rising tensions, Araghchi announced on Thursday that Iran and France are close to agreeing on a prisoner swap and expressed hope that an exchange would happen “in the coming days”.
Iran’s top diplomat did not detail which French prisoners held in Iran would be released, but said the exchange would include Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman arrested in France over posts about Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Esfandiari, a translator living in the French city of Lyon since 2018, was arrested in February, with French authorities accusing her of incitement to and glorification of “terrorism” and “hate speech” against Jewish people over posts on Telegram.
Tehran calls her a “hostage”, employing the word used by France and other European countries that have accused Iran for decades of holding foreign and dual-national citizens in relation to espionage charges.
‘Joint operation room against Israeli madness’
Fighting off surging pressure from the US and its allies, Iranian authorities have tried to warm ties with China and Russia, and to find common ground with regional players, particularly Arab neighbours, over Israel’s aggressions.
After Israel attacked Qatar for the first time this week in a failed attempt to assassinate the top leadership of Hamas, Iran joined the chorus of regional and international condemnation.
Ali Larijani, who was appointed Iran’s security chief last month, went further on Saturday and issued what he called a “warning to Islamic governments”.
“Holding a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation filled with speeches without any practical outcome (as happens in UN Security Council meetings) in truth amounts to issuing a new order of aggression in favour of the Zionist entity!”, he wrote on X in Arabic, in reference to Israel.
“At the very least, form a ‘joint operations room’ against the madness of this entity,” Larijani said, adding that “you have done nothing for the hungry and oppressed Muslims in Palestine, at least take a modest decision to avert your own annihilation”.
Qatar announced on Saturday that it will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday in Doha, preceded by a preparatory meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari said in a statement that “the summit will discuss a draft statement” on the Israeli attack.
Iran said President Masoud Pezeshkian will represent the country in the summit.
