TEHRAN: Iranian lawmakers voted on 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.
The decision still requires the approval of the Guardian Council, a body empowered to vet legislation. Should it be ratified, Ghalibaf said "the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend its cooperation with the IAEA until the security of the nuclear facilities is guaranteed."
In parliament, 221 lawmakers voted in favour and one abstained, with no votes against from those present in in the 290-seat legislature, according to state TV. Lawmaker Alireza Salimi said the suspension of cooperation would mean that IAEA inspectors would be barred from accessing nuclear facilities unless they obtained the approval of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, according to ISNA news agency.
Israel on June 13 launched a major bombardment campaign that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities and killed top military commanders and nuclear scientists. On Sunday, Israel's ally the United States launched unprecedented strikes of its own on Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz, before a ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday that US strikes led to the "total obliteration" of Iran's nuclear capabilities and set the country's atomic programme back "decades", while Israel said it was still early to fully assess the damage. Over a 12-day conflict, Israel pounded Iranian nuclear and military sites while Iran launched waves of missiles at its foe during their deadliest-ever confrontation.
The United States joined the fray in support of its ally, hitting two nuclear facilities with massive bunker-buster bombs over the weekend, while a guided missile from a submarine struck a third. But leaked US intelligence cast doubt on the damage caused by American strikes, saying they had set back Tehran's nuclear programme by just a few months. "They're not going to be building bombs for a long time," said Trump, adding that the strikes had set back the programme by "decades" and that the Iran-Israel ceasefire that he declared was going "very well".
Iranian authorities on Wednesday announced the gradual easing of internet restrictions imposed during the 12-day war with Israel, following the implementation of a ceasefire between the longtime foes. Strict internet curbs had been gradually imposed since June 13, when Israel launched a major attack on Iran, which hit back with waves of missile strikes. A ceasefire that came into force on Tuesday appears to be holding. "The communication network is gradually returning to its previous state," the Revolutionary Guards' cyber unit said in a statement carried by state media.
It said Israel had waged a "widespread cyber war" with the goal of disrupting digital services and "abusing the network infrastructure to collect information and intensify the aggression". Iran's communications minister, Sattar Hashemi, also said in a post on X: "With the normalisation of conditions, the state of communication access has returned to its previous conditions". — AFP
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