According to a report by the state-run IRNA news agency in Iran on Tuesday, Iranian officials are pressing for changes to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) nuclear oversight rules, arguing that existing safeguards do not reflect the realities of armed conflict following recent attacks on the country’s nuclear infrastructure.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the safeguards agreement Iran follows as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was drafted for normal, peaceful conditions rather than periods of war. He maintained that the current arrangements should be revised so they can function under wartime pressures and better protect Iran’s security interests.
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Kamalvandi noted that Tehran stopped cooperating with the IAEA towards the end of June under a law passed by parliament, after the agency did not denounce Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites earlier in the month. He added that, despite this pause in cooperation, Iran still observes its NPT commitments and the safeguards agreement, while raising alarms about the security of its facilities and scientific personnel.
The report said the IAEA has been asking to inspect facilities damaged in the strikes, but Iran has turned down those requests, arguing that any inspections there could expose sensitive information to hostile states.
“When a country is attacked, it cannot be expected to immediately allow inspectors into damaged sites, because that could mean handing sensitive information to its enemies,” Kamalvandi said.
Kamalvandi stated that Iran is seeking new, binding assurances from the agency to prevent any misuse of data before it restores fuller cooperation, while inspections remain permitted at locations that were not attacked.