Iran lawmakers back suspending cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog - Region
Iranian lawmakers voted Wednesday in favour of suspending cooperation with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, state TV said, after a 12-day war that saw Israeli and US strikes on nuclear facilities.
"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, announcing that "the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed."
Just 12 days before Israel launched its major bombardment on Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report saying that Iran has ramped up production of highly enriched uranium.
The IAEA report, seen by AFP, said Iran had sharply increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent, close to the roughly 90 percent level needed for atomic weapons.
The IAEA report said Iran had an estimated 408.6 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent as of May 17, up by 133.8 kilogrammes since the last report in February.
It added that Iran's total amount of enriched uranium now exceeds 45 times the limit authorised by the 2015 agreement with world powers, and is estimated at 9,247.6 kilogrammes.
In a separate in-depth report, the IAEA criticised "less than satisfactory" cooperation from Tehran over its scrutiny of its nuclear programme, specifically noting Iran's lack of progress in explaining nuclear material found at undeclared sites.
Iran rejected the report, which came amid US-Iranian nuclear talks in Oman, with Tehran's foreign ministry calling it a "political" manoeuvre.
The ministry accused Israel of providing "unreliable and misleading information" to the IAEA for the report, "contrary to the IAEA's principles of professional verification".
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