Tehran scraps IAEA agreement after sanctions return

DUBAI: Tehran has scrapped its agreement with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that is signed in September, after Western powers brought back UN sanctions, according to the country's state media. 

The decision was announced by the Supreme National Security Council Secretary on Monday days after the UN's nuclear watchdog had only recently resumed inspections of Iranian nuclear sites.

The statement came around three weeks after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, said Tehran would scrap the agreement, which allowed the IAEA to resume inspections of its nuclear sites, if Western powers reinstated UN sanctions.

Those were reinstated last month.

The confirmation will be a setback for the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been trying to rebuild cooperation with Tehran since Israel and the United States bombed the nuclear sites in June.

“The agreement has been cancelled,” Ali Larijani said while meeting his Iraqi counterpart in Tehran, according to state media.

“Of course, if the agency has a proposal, we will review it in the secretariat,” he added.