Cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog will be suspended if European states push ahead with reinstating United Nations sanctions, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said on Saturday.
The council, in a meeting chaired by President Masoud Pezeshkian, concluded that despite months of engagement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, “the path of collaboration will in practice be suspended" following the Europeans' push for reinstating UN sanctions on Iran, state media reported.
The foreign ministry was also tasked with continuing diplomatic outreach in line with the Council’s decisions.
On September 9, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signed an agreement in Cairo that set out procedures for inspections, notifications, and reporting obligations.
However, Araghchi said at the time that the agreement would be scrapped if European powers proceed with reimposing UN sanctions on Iran through the so-called "snapback" mechanism.
President Pezeshkian in remarks made on Saturday rejected what he described as Western pressure over the country's nuclear program.
“They have decided to bring back the snapback (sanctions),” he said. “They can close the paths, but minds and ideas will build new ones. They can strike Natanz and Fordow, but people will create Natanz and even more important than Natanz. They cannot stop us.”
The UN Security Council on Friday rejected a South Korean-sponsored draft resolution that sought to permanently lift sanctions suspended under the 2015 nuclear deal. With that proposal defeated, all international sanctions are due to automatically snap back into place on September 28.
Iran’s currency weakened further on Saturday after the UN Security Council's vote. The dollar, which opened the day around 1,013,000 rials on the free market, rose above 1,035,000 by midday and later reached 1,036,700, according to local exchange trackers.
