Iran lawmakers back suspending cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog
TEHRAN: Iranian lawmakers voted Wednesday in favour of suspending cooperation with the United Nations' atomic energy watchdog, state TV said, after a 12-day war that saw Israeli and US strikes on nuclear sites.
'The International Atomic Energy Agency, which refused to even marginally condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, put its international credibility up for auction,' Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, according to state TV.
The decision still requires the approval of the Guardian Council, a body empowered to vet legislation.
Should it be ratified, Ghalibaf said 'the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed'.
In parliament, 221 lawmakers voted in favour and one abstained, with no votes against from those present in the 290-seat legislature, according to state TV.
Lawmaker Alireza Salimi said the suspension of cooperation would mean that IAEA inspectors would be barred from accessing nuclear facilities unless they obtained the approval of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, according to the ISNA news agency.
Later Wednesday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told the official IRNA news agency that cooperation with the IAEA 'will definitely be affected'.
Baqaei blamed the agency for passing a resolution on June 12 accusing Iran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations, which he called 'one of the main excuses' for the US and Israeli attacks.
Israel on June 13 launched a major bombing campaign that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities and killed top military commanders and atomic scientists.
On Sunday, Israel's ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz, before a ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday.
Lawmakers chanted 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' after the vote on Wednesday, state TV reported.
Since the start of the war, Iranian officials have sharply criticised the IAEA for failing to condemn the Israeli attacks.
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