Cooperation With IAEA to Change If EU Passes Resolution

Date: 16 November 2025 - 21:40

News ID: ۱۴۵۸۹۰

TEHRAN – Iran said on Sunday it would review its relations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if a resolution proposed by European powers is adopted, criticizing what it described as political pressures on the country over its nuclear program.
Speaking at an international conference on “International Law under Aggression, Invasion and Defense” in Tehran, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, said the resolution — reportedly submitted by the European “Troika” of France, Germany and the UK — would seek to suspend Iran’s uranium enrichment and prevent it from resuming nuclear reprocessing activities.
“Iran will reconsider its relations with the IAEA; if a resolution is issued, a fundamental review will take place,” Gharibabadi said. He described the move by European countries as an attempt to exert pressure, rather than engage in meaningful diplomacy.
Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Gharibabadi said the country has cooperated extensively with the IAEA, allowing inspections of all facilities that were not targeted in previous attacks, and continuously implementing the Additional Protocol and IAEA safeguards.
Despite this, he said Western countries have ignored Iran’s compliance while focusing on political objectives. “They are not concerned with interaction; they only want to use international mechanisms to pressure Iran,” he said.
The conference, held at Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran, was attended by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi Atomic Energy Organization chief Muhammad Eslami, and senior political and academic figures from Iran and abroad. The gathering aimed to discuss international legal perspectives on state aggression and defense.
Gharibabadi stressed that Iran has faced two forms of attacks: one against its territorial integrity and another targeting its nuclear facilities. He described these attacks — by Israel and the United States — as “serious crimes” and warned that attacks on nuclear facilities constitute threats not just to Iran but to global peace and security.
“Every attack against nuclear facilities, whether sabotage, military action, or targeting of scientists, represents a threat to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and international security,” he said, noting that all Iranian nuclear facilities had been under stringent IAEA monitoring.
Gharibabadi criticized selective enforcement of international law, citing attacks on Syria and Ukraine while Iran’s cases received limited international condemnation. He said some members of the international community of encouraging illegal acts and exacerbating tensions, undermining nuclear non-proliferation norms.
The deputy foreign minister also criticized the IAEA Board of Governors and the UN Security Council for failing to act, saying the IAEA director-general did not report the attacks to the Security Council despite being responsible for oversight.
Iran’s stance comes amid rising tensions with Europe over the possible reintroduction of punitive measures via the IAEA Board of Governors. Gharibabadi questioned the rationale behind the resolution, noting, “We are not enriching uranium at this stage, so what is the West worried about?”
He described the European and U.S. draft resolution as demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, refrain from resuming reprocessing activities and engage in dialogue with the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany in good faith.
Gharibabadi stated that these demands ignore Iran’s transparency measures and its cooperation with the IAEA over the past three years, including implementation of the revised Code 3.1 which requires Iran to notify the IAEA “as soon
as the decision to construct … a new facility has been taken”.
“They do not care about our cooperation because engagement is not important to them,” he said.
He also blasted doubled standards on Israel and the U.S., noting that neither side is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) while pursuing nuclear capabilities.
The deputy foreign minister said the regime that claims Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb has, for three decades, been spinning tales about Iran’s alleged nuclear bomb ambitions.
He said even though Iran has been the one targeted, Israel continues to say that Iran is seeking a nuclear bomb, which is truly absurd.
“They themselves possess warheads and nuclear weapons, have sown chaos in the region, and have even claimed to hold an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, yet they continue to talk about their fantasy that Iran is trying to acquire a nuclear bomb.”
Gharibabadi said, “This is not just about Iran today; in the future, other countries will also be affected.
“Today we see that countries in our region are advancing the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and I do not know what will happen to their nuclear facilities in the future, especially given the threat posed by Israel, which cannot tolerate the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the region.
“This is a fact, and we have seen it in the behavior toward Iraq, Syria, and Iran, and it could happen elsewhere in the region in the future. This is a major lesson we have learned. The international community, the United Nations, and the UN Security Council must put an end to the brutality and crimes committed by Israel and the United States in the region.”
Gharibabadi said the conference was an opportunity to examine the legal and ethical dimensions of state aggression, emphasizing the importance of upholding international law over political maneuvering.
The Tehran gathering hosted around 350 participants from multiple countries, including diplomats, scholars, and analysts, to discuss the legality of responses to aggression under international law.