Iran's parliament looking to suspend cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog: IRNA
A parliamentary bill to suspend Iran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog is under consideration. PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow our live coverage here.
A parliamentary bill to suspend Iran's cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog is under consideration, Mr Ruhollah Motefakerzadeh, a member of parliament's presidium said on J une 23 according to state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) .
Iranian media also reported Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf saying: 'We in the parliament are seeking to pass a bill that would suspend Iran's cooperation with the IAEA until we have objective guarantees of the professional behaviour of this international organisation.'
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the UN's nuclear watchdog tasked with promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and preventing its use for military purposes. It reports to both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, and is headquartered at the UN Office in Vienna, Austria.
Mr Qalibaf insisted that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.
'The world clearly saw that the Atomic Energy Agency has not fulfilled any of its obligations and has become a political tool,' he said. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
27 minutes ago
- Straits Times
China says Taiwan president spreading ‘heresy' with sovereignty speech
Beijing says democratically-governed Taiwan is "sacred" Chinese territory that has belonged to China since ancient times. PHOTO: REUTERS BEIJING - China on June 22 accused Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te of "heresy", hostility and provocation, after a speech in which he said the island is "of course" a country and there is historical evidence and legal proof to back this up. Beijing says democratically-governed Taiwan is "sacred" Chinese territory that has belonged to China since ancient times, and that the island is one of its provinces with no right to be called a state. Mr Lai and his government strongly reject that view, and have offered talks with China multiple times but have been rejected. China calls Mr Lai a separatist. China's Taiwan Affairs Office, responding to Mr Lai's speech on the evening of June 22, said he had intentionally distorted history to promote his Taiwan independence agenda and that the island has never been a country. "It was a 'Taiwan independence' declaration that blatantly incited cross-strait confrontation, and a hodgepodge of 'Taiwan independence' fallacies and heresies full of errors and omissions," it said in a statement. "The fallacies fabricated by Lai Ching-te in contravention of history, reality and jurisprudence will only be swept into the rubbish heap of history." Mr Lai has repeatedly said that only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and that, as the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island, it has no right to claim it or speak on its behalf. In 1949, the Republic of China government fled to Taiwan after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, and that remains the island's formal name. Taiwan has over the past five years faced stepped-up military and political pressure from China, including war games. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
28 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Thailand targets Cambodian scam centres as border dispute rages
Ms Paetongtarn said Bangkok will restrict border crossings to Cambodia across seven provinces, and halt exports of goods including fuel. PHOTO: REUTERS BANGKOK – Thailand announced a raft of security and trade measures to cripple transnational crime syndicates in Cambodia, as Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra seeks an upper hand in a simmering border dispute with its neighbour. Bangkok will restrict border crossings to Cambodia across seven provinces, and halt exports of goods including fuel that abet transnational criminal activities, Ms Paetongtarn told reporters on June 23 after chairing a meeting of officials and security agencies. Bangkok will coordinate its efforts with foreign governments and international organisations to dismantle the criminal hub that's estimated to generate more than 600 billion baht (S$23.53 billion) a year, she said. The crackdown comes in the wake of a political crisis triggered by Ms Paetongtarn's comments in a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which caused a key party to quit her coalition, reducing its majority in Parliament. She has since vowed to deal more firmly with Cambodia in the border stand-off. The border row has escalated, with the two countries curbing trade and people's mobility in tit-for-tat moves since an exchange of gunfire between troops in May. Cambodia suspended imports of Thai fuel and gas from June 23 after the Thai army closed one of the border crossings. The measures targeting scam centres follow similar efforts earlier in 2025, when Thailand cut off electricity, internet access and fuel supplies to some areas in Myanmar suspected to house cyber scam operations. Thailand and Cambodia had also jointly dismantled a scam centre that housed hundreds of trafficked foreign workers in casino city Poipet. Across South-east Asia, the billion-dollar cyber scam operations have been expanding, particularly in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. They are often run by Chinese fugitives who fled their home nation in 2020 following a domestic crackdown. Earlier in 2025, thousands of workers were rescued from scam centres in Myanmar in a multinational crackdown that also included China. 'The criminal networks in Myanmar have resettled in Cambodia, so we need tighter measures to prevent Thais being scammed in the future,' Ms Paetongtarn said. As part of the crackdown, Thailand will ban foreign tourists from crossing over to Cambodia and curb air travel to Siem Reap for gambling purposes, Ms Paetongtarn said. Thai law enforcement agencies will ramp up inspection of so-called mule accounts and financial transactions of call centre gangs, and suspend all internet services and undersea internet gateways used by Cambodia's military and security agencies. Thailand will also impose sanctions on transnational criminals with money-laundering activities and seize or freeze their assets transferred abroad, according to Ms Paetongtarn. BLOOMBERG Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Hungary and Slovakia block Russian sanctions package, Budapest says
FILE PHOTO: Plastic letters arranged to read \"Sanctions\" are placed in front of Russian flag colors in this illustration taken February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/ File Photo BUDAPEST - Hungary and Slovakia have decided not to support the EU's plan for an 18th sanctions package against Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday in a press briefing broadcast on his Facebook page. Hungary and Slovakia decided to block the sanctions package in response to European Union plans to phase out Russian energy imports, the minister said. "We did this because the European Union ... wants to prohibit member states, including Hungary and Slovakia, from purchasing cheap Russian natural gas and cheap Russian oil as they have done previously," Szijjarto said. Hungary and Slovakia continue to rely on Russian gas and oil supplies and have maintained warm ties with Moscow. The Commission on June 10 proposed a new round of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, targeting Moscow's energy revenues, its banks and its military industry. In response, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Slovakia will not back the package of sanctions unless the European Commission provides a solution to the situation Slovakia faces if the bloc phases out Russian energy imports. Sanctions proposals require unanimity in the bloc for approval. Late on Sunday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged the EU to take a proposed ban on Russian energy off the agenda due to an expected rise in energy prices following the U.S. bombing of Iran. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
