Post by : Jyoti Gupta

Photo:Reuters

Tehran, July 2 — Iran has moved to shut the door on United Nations nuclear inspectors, deepening an already fraught standoff over its atomic program.

President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday signed a law that halts all cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN body responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear sites. Parliament approved the measure with near‑unanimous support — 221 votes in favor, none against, and a single abstention — before it cleared a constitutional review and reached the president’s desk.

The decision follows a violent 12‑day flare‑up that began on June 13, when Israeli strikes hit Iranian military and nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated with missile and drone salvos, and the United States answered on June 22 by targeting key enrichment centers at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. A U.S.-brokered cease‑fire took effect on June 24, but Tehran has since accused the IAEA of remaining silent while its facilities came under fire.

By ending cooperation with the agency, Iran will no longer share operating data from its centrifuges, allow snap inspections, or grant access to surveillance footage. Analysts warn that the move leaves the world with far less visibility into the pace and scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment — a program Tehran insists is peaceful but which Western capitals fear could shorten the path to a bomb.

Officials in Tehran say the suspension is reversible if “hostile actions” against the country’s nuclear infrastructure cease and if the IAEA, in their view, shows greater impartiality. For now, however, the law signals Iran’s toughest posture yet in the long‑running dispute over its nuclear ambitions, raising fresh doubts about the prospect of new talks or a wider diplomatic settlement.