Iran’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill mandating the government to suspend all cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog. The move is a direct and forceful response to the “recent aggression by Israel and the United States” against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
In a charged session of the Majles, Iran’s parliament, lawmakers voted 221 to 0, with one abstention, to approve the general outlines of the bill on Wednesday. The final articles of the bill were later passed with a similar sweeping majority, cementing a stance that will see IAEA inspectors barred from the country and all monitoring activities halted.
The approved bill now requires final ratification from Iran’s Guardian Council, a 12-member body of jurists. They review the bill to ensure it does not contradict the Constitution of Iran and Islamic principles. Once approved in the Guardian Council, it is signed into law by the President and officially published, making it enforceable across the country.
“This is not about leaving the NPT,” said Seyyed Mahmoud Nabavian, deputy head of the parliament’s National Security Commission, referring to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. “We are committed to this treaty and have declared to the world that all our nuclear activities are and have been peaceful.”
However, he explained the immediate, practical consequences of the new legislation. “The installation of any Safeguards or Additional Protocol cameras in our country will be prohibited,” Nabavian stated. “Furthermore, the entry of any inspector, whether it be the director-general, his subordinates, or any IAEA official, will be forbidden.”
The move is rooted in deep mistrust of the UN agency. Iranian officials have long accused the IAEA of leaking confidential inspection data. “Until now, we provided reports on our nuclear activities to the IAEA, which unfortunately they provided directly to the Zionist regime,” Nabavian said. “Under this new law, providing any report to the agency is prohibited.”
The bill’s primary stated goal, according to its supporters, is to secure Iran’s national interests and nuclear sites. Lawmakers argued they are invoking rights guaranteed under the very treaty they are accused of violating. “Based on Article 4 of the NPT, which gives every member three rights—research and development, production, and utilization of the nuclear industry—we must also claim these rights for ourselves,” Nabavian said. “Until these rights and the security of our nuclear centers are guaranteed, this obligation [to suspend cooperation] exists, and the government will have no right to cooperate with the agency, especially with Grossi, its spy chief.”
The session was marked by sharp criticism directed personally at IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi. Ali Nikzad, the deputy speaker chairing part of today’s session, did not mince words. “Grossi should be ashamed of himself. He says one thing when he is in Iran, but does another thing when he returns to the agency,” Nikzad said from the parliamentary floor. “Grossi has lied and must now be ashamed before world public opinion.”
The bill, formally titled “Requiring the Government to Suspend Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” passed its final reading with 222 votes in favor, zero against, and one abstention.
Its main article legally obligates the government to suspend all IAEA cooperation immediately after this is signed into law. It justifies this by citing violations of national sovereignty by the “Zionist regime” and the U.S. aggression against Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, invoking Article 60 of the 1969 Vienna Convention as the basis for the suspension until two key conditions are met:
- Guaranteed Security: Full assurance that the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran are respected, and that the security of its nuclear centers and scientists is guaranteed under the framework of the UN Charter.
- Guaranteed Rights: Full assurance that Iran’s inherent rights under Article 4 of the NPT are respected, particularly the right to domestic uranium enrichment.
The approved bill specifies a clear verification process for these conditions. Assurance that the guarantees have been met will be officially confirmed by the Supreme National Security Council, but only after receiving a report from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Furthermore, the government is now mandated to submit a progress report on meeting these conditions to both the parliament and the Supreme National Security Council every three months.
To ensure compliance, the law includes a rider that makes any failure to implement its provisions a crime. In a vote of 190 to 23, lawmakers added a clause stipulating that any official who fails to enforce the law will face “Grade 6 Ta’ziri punishment,” a category of penalties in the Islamic Penal Code, demonstrating the seriousness of the parliament’s intent.
