As parliament votes to suspend IAEA cooperation, can Iran afford to abandon NPT?
Following a fragile ceasefire, Iran-US nuclear negotiations could be back on the table — or as many fear, Iran could decide to exit the NPT.
The 12-day war between Iran and Israel, culminating in a ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump on Monday, is triggering fears among nuclear nonproliferation watchers that Iran may withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty it has been a member of for over five decades.
On Wednesday, Iran's parliament voted to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a key facet of the NPT. The bill passed with 221 votes in favor, one abstention and no votes against it, according to Iranian news agency Mehr. The bill would only allow the IAEA to inspect nuclear sites with the approval of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. The legislation must be approved by Iran's Guardian Council to become law.
Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, on Monday accused the United States of inflicting an “irreparable blow” to the NPT following US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.
Speaking on the sidelines of an emergency IAEA meeting in Vienna on Monday, Najafi told reporters that Saturday's strikes by the United States — which targeted Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities at Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow — "delivered a fundamental and irreparable blow to the international nonproliferation regime," adding that the attacks "conclusively demonstrated that the existing NPT framework has been rendered ineffective," Bloomberg reported.
