Iran says cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog depends on correcting ‘double standards’

ISTANBUL

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Thursday that his country’s cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog depends on fixing its “double standards” regarding Tehran’s nuclear file.

“The continuation of this cooperation is contingent upon correcting the IAEA double standards towards the Iranian nuclear program,” he said in statements carried by the Mehr news agency.

In a phone call with European Council President Antonio Costa, Pezeshkian said the suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resulted from the “biased and unprofessional behavior” of its director general, Rafael Grossi.

“A repeat of any aggression will be met with a more decisive and regrettable response,” Pezeshkian vowed.

The European Council president, for his part, expressed the EU’s full support for the IAEA, “the only impartial body capable of verifying that Iran’s nuclear program remains strictly peaceful.”

“As I stressed in my call with President Pezeshkian, Iran must fully comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty and enable the resumption of IAEA inspections,” Costa said on his official X account.

“Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon,” he added.

On June 25, the Iranian parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the IAEA. The legislation came amid growing tensions between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog over monitoring access and transparency in the wake of recent military confrontations with Israel and the US.

A 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran erupted last month, when Israel launched airstrikes on Iranian military, nuclear, and civilian sites, killing at least 935 people. The Iranian Health Ministry said 5,332 people were injured.

Tehran launched retaliatory missile and drone strikes, killing at least 29 people and wounding more than 3,400, according to figures released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The US bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan.

The conflict ended with a US-sponsored ceasefire that took effect on June 24.