Iran stops IAEA inspections following UN watchdog's reprimand
The IAEA Board of Governors approved a resolution on Thursday demanding Iran provide access to attacked nuclear facilities and information on its uranium stockpiles.
After the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors passed a resolution Thursday calling on Iran to grant access to all nuclear facilities and provide information on its enriched uranium stockpiles, Iran announced that it would cease allowing the UN watchdog to conduct any inspections in the country.
After the agency's rebuke, Iran announced that the Cairo Agreement, a recent cooperation arrangement between Tehran and the IAEA that vaguely committed Tehran to providing the agency access to its nuclear sites, is no longer valid.
The resolution, submitted by the United States and the United Kingdom, France and Germany — the European signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — noted that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles have not been subject to IAEA verification for more than five months. It urged Iran to meet its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions and allow inspectors to access the sites.
The passed with 19 out of 35 votes, with China, Russia and Niger voting against. Twelve countries abstained.
