“Unacceptable” – US Officials Slam Iran’s Suspending Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog

Update (1430ET): That didn’t take long.

US State Department officials have reportedly said that Iran’s suspension of cooperation with IAEA is “unacceptable“, adding that Iran must cooperate fully without further delay.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric also chimed in, saying that Iran’s suspension of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is “obviously concerning”

“We’ve seen the official decision, which is obviously concerning. I think the Secretary-General has been very consistent in his call for Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, and, frankly, for all countries to work closely with the IAEA on nuclear issues,” he told reporters.

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In an official move which could bring Tehran into further conflict with the United States, Israel, and the West, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has signed a law which breaks all cooperation with the the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following Israeli and US large-scale strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last month.

“Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Iranian state TV confirmed Wednesday.

The announcement comes on the heels of Iranian parliament’s initial decision last week to halt cooperation with the nuclear watchdog and monitoring body, a move triggered by Israel’s surprise attack on the Islamic Republic which began on June 13.

Nearly two weeks of war followed, capped by the Trump-ordered B-2 bomber raids and huge attacks on the three key nuclear facilities of Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

Under the new parliamentary resolution, IAEA inspectors will need approval from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council before any access to nuclear facilities is given.

The IAEA merely said in response that it was “aware of these reports” of Tehran suspending cooperation and is waiting for formal communication from Iranian leaders.

Earlier this week, Iran’s foreign minister declared that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, whom Iranian officials have fiercely criticized for not condemning the Israeli and US attacks, as Persona non grata.

There was also this recent alarming diplomatic fiasco centered on Grossi and threats by an Iranian newspaper:

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations said Sunday that Tehran poses no threat to the head of the UN nuclear watchdog nor its inspectors, after an Iranian newspaper claimed that Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi was an Israeli spy and called for him to be executed.

Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently alleged that unspecified documents showed Grossi to be an Israeli spy.

“It should therefore be officially announced that he will be tried and executed upon arrival in Iran for spying for the Mossad and participating in the murder of the oppressed people of our country,” the newspaper said.

“No, there is not any threat” against the inspectors or the director general, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani said in an interview with US broadcaster CBS. The ambassador said inspectors in Iran were “in safe conditions.”

Just the day prior to Israel’s surprise assault on Iran using dozens of warplanes, Tehran officials were outraged with a rejected a June 12 resolution from the IAEA board that accused Iran of failing to meet its nuclear obligations.

Iranian authorities then alleged this resolution served as one of the “pretexts” used to justify the Israeli and later US attacks on its nuclear facilities, which Tehran has maintained is solely for nuclear energy purposes.