Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have reached an agreement aimed at preparing the ground for renewed cooperation. In July, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed into law a bill passed by Parliament in June obliging the administration to suspend cooperation with the IAEA. This came after strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel and the US Israel in June. Iranian officials said a politically-motivated IAEA resolution had paved the way for the 12 days of attacks, noting IAEA’s failure to condemn the assault. The law also bars IAEA inspectors from entering Iran and prohibits the installation of surveillance cameras at nuclear facilities. The legislation comes within the purview of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council which is the authority that sets defence and security policy.
The new agreement was signed in Cairo between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi, after Egypt undertook to host talks. Speaking alongside Grossi at the press conference that followed conclusion of the agreement, Araqchi described it as culmination of negotiations on realisation of “an understanding on how Iran’s safeguards obligations will be implemented” in light of the developments arising from the military strikes.
The agreement includes “practical steps” for implementing safeguards and establishing a framework for continuing cooperation, while also addressing Iran’s concerns regarding its security and national sovereignty, Araqchi said. It guarantees Tehran’s inalienable rights to peaceful nuclear energy activities under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), while taking into account the IAEA’s technical and verification requirements, he added. “The message is clear: Iran will never compromise on its sovereignty, rights, or security,” he said.
Araqchi recalled that Iran had demonstrated its willingness to enable continued cooperation with the agency, despite having been subjected to the “unjustifiable, blatant, and criminal” aggression that targeted its safeguarded nuclear facilities. He stressed that the IAEA and the international community must abide by international law and condemn the attacks that had made it impossible for Iran to continue cooperation with the Agency as before. “There is no precedent for cooperation between the Agency and a member state under conditions where its safeguarded facilities have been deliberately attacked and damaged,” he said. He added that those responsible had to be held accountable and compensate Iran for the human and material losses.
He continued: “Cooperation is not a one-way street. Alongside Iran’s commitments, the Agency also bears clear responsibilities, and we expect it to fully uphold them, while maintaining its impartiality, independence, and professionalism.”
He warned against any further aggressive steps against Iran, despite its goodwill gestures. “I emphasise that in the event of any hostile action against Iran, including the reinstatement of previously revoked United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, the Islamic Republic will regard these practical steps as terminated.”
He was referring to the fact that the UK, France, and Germany (the E3) had notified the UNSC that they intend to trigger a snapback mechanism under Resolution 2231, which would re-impose UN sanctions against Iran. The sanctions had been lifted in 2015 when Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), endorsed by Resolution 2231, with the P5+1 group of countries (the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany). Under the JCPOA, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear development programme in return for the lifting of sanctions. The E3 move is being countered by Russia and China.
The following day, IAEA Director General Grossi read a carefully worded statement on the Egypt talks to the IAEA Board of Governors. He noted that the June attacks of nuclear installations in Iran led to an inevitable suspension of the inspection work in Iran. However, he still did not condemn those attacks. He said: “Resuming this indispensable work would not be an automatic, or a simple bureaucratic process, after what happened.”
Referring to Iran’s law suspending co-operation with the IAEA, he said this “risked putting us before the real possibility of Iran failing to observe and comply with its safeguards obligations…. [and] this would not be a situation we would like to see, given its multiple and inevitably negative consequences.” In an address to the Board two days earlier, before the Cairo talks, he had been more explicit, with what could be interpreted as a veiled threat. Emphasising the need to resume agency inspections in Iran, he said: “I believe that if we can seriously resume our cooperation with Iran and the inspections start completely, the probability of further attacks will decrease.”
However, following the Cairo agreement, Grossi was more measured. Welcoming Iran’s willingness to continue working inside the international non-proliferation regime, he noted: “Iran expressed concerns, and it is our duty as an international organisation to listen to those, and find ways and means to address them in a form which would reconcile two equally important parameters: Iran’s new law, and the existing legal obligations emanating from the NPT safeguards agreement…. This required dialogue and a thorough understanding of Iran’s views.
He said the new agreement is a technical document that provides for a clear understanding of the procedures for inspection, notifications, and implementation. “This includes all facilities and installations in Iran, and it also contemplates the required reporting on all the attacked facilities, including the nuclear material present at those. For this, Iran will follow its recently adopted internal procedures. And that will open the way for the respective inspections and access.”
He added: “Safeguards approaches to each facility will be reviewed at technical level, always in line with the rights and obligations of Iran and the Agency under the NPT Safeguards Agreement, which are not modified or amended as a result of these practical steps.”
He further explained: “The technical nature of this document does not diminish its profound significance. Iran and the Agency will now resume cooperation in a respectful and comprehensive way. These practical steps – allow me here to state the obvious – need to be implemented now. There may be difficulties and issues to be resolved, for sure, but we now know that we have the elements and basic understandings to do it.”
He continued: “It is my sincere hope that the resumption of our inspection activity in Iran may serve as a good sign, as a reference, an indication that agreements and understandings are possible and that nothing replaces dialogue if one wants durable, lasting solutions to international challenges like this one…. Now, it is time to put this agreement in practice, which is exactly what we intend to do.
While this was widely misinterpreted by the press as meaning agreement had already been reached on the resumption of inspections, Araqchi in a press conference made it clear that this was not so.
He explained that, under the deal, IAEA inspectors will not receive access beyond the ongoing arrangements at the Bushehr NPP, where access had already been granted for the purpose of fuel replacement under an earlier Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) decision. “This agreement in itself creates no new access,” he stated, noting that any future access will be subject to fresh negotiations based on Iran’s forthcoming reports. He also repeated that continuation of the agreement is conditioned on the absence of hostile measures against Iran, including any attempt to revive UN Security Council resolutions under the snapback mechanism of the JCPOA.
He told reporters that the negotiations with the IAEA on a new cooperation framework had been ongoing with the authorisation of the SNSC and had reached a stage requiring high-level talks to finalise the text. He explained that both the decision to enter the talks and the provisions necessary to safeguard Iran’s positions had been reviewed and approved by the SNSC.
He said the most important feature of the finalised document is that it acknowledges the new realities, making clear that cooperation between Iran and the IAEA will no longer proceed in the old manner. Instead, the agreement explicitly recognises Iran’s legitimate security concerns and requires that they need to be addressed.
He noted that the deal also upholds a law passed by the Iranian Parliament, which stipulates that all cooperation must be conducted with approval of the SNSC. The agreement formally recognises that legal path as the framework for Iran’s coordination with the IAEA.
“This new framework is fully in line with the piece of legislation approved by the parliament, takes into account Iran’s security concerns, recognises Iran’s rights, and defines a new form of cooperation with the Agency,” Araghchi said. “These were all of our demands, and they are included in this agreement.”
Araghchi expressed hope that the agreement would open the path toward a diplomatic solution, provided that the other parties genuinely pursue diplomacy “in practice, not just in words”.
