Iran's president orders country to suspend cooperation with UN nuclear watchdog

Iranian state television announced Pezeshkian's order, which followed a law passed by Iran’s parliament to suspend that cooperation.

Iran’s president on Wednesday ordered the country to suspend its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency after American and Israeli airstrikes hit its most-important nuclear facilities, likely further limiting inspectors' ability to track Tehran's program that had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels.

The order by President Masoud Pezeshkian, however, included no timetables or details about what that suspension would entail. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signaled in a CBS News interview that Tehran still would be willing to continue negotiations with the United States.

“I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,” Araghchi said, referring to Trump's comments that talks could start as early as this week. However, he added: “The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut.”

Iran has limited IAEA inspections in the past as a pressure tactic in negotiating with the West — though as of right now Tehran has denied that there's any immediate plans to resume talks with the United States that had been upended by the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

Iranian state television announced Pezeshkian's order, which followed a law passed by Iran’s parliament to suspend that cooperation. The bill already received the approval of Iran's constitutional watchdog, the Guardian Council, on Thursday, and likely the support of the country's Supreme National Security Council, which Pezeshkian chairs.

“The government is mandated to immediately suspend all cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its related Safeguards Agreement,” state television quoted the bill as saying. "This suspension will remain in effect until certain conditions are met, including the guaranteed security of nuclear facilities and scientists.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what that would mean for the IAEA, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

The Vienna-based IAEA long has monitored Iran’s nuclear program. The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

It's not known how Iran will implement this suspension. Iran's theocractic government, there is room for the council to implement the bill as they see fit. That means that everything lawmakers asked for might not be done.

Iran had been enriching up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. It also has enough of a stockpile to build multiple nuclear bombs, should it choose to do so. Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the IAEA, Western intelligence agencies and others say Tehran had an organized weapons program up until 2003.

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Amir Vahdat contributed to this report from Tehran, Iran.