Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami departed for Vienna to attend the IAEA’s annual general conference, saying Tehran would push for a ban on attacks against atomic facilities, as the Supreme National Security Council outlined strict conditions on future inspections.
“The annual conference is an important opportunity to present our positions and explain the unlawful measures that have targeted our nuclear industry,” Eslami told state television before leaving Tehran to attend the 69th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
He said Iran would use the platform to introduce “a clear and transparent narrative” of recent events and to stress what he described as the IAEA’s inaction against such incidents.
Eslami said the trip would include multilateral meetings with various countries and that Tehran had prepared a resolution for the conference “to condemn attacks on nuclear facilities and ensure this issue is formally raised.”
Supreme National Security Council statement
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) also issued a statement on the recent arrangement signed in Cairo between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, setting out principles for future cooperation.
The council said the text “was reviewed in the nuclear committee of the SNSC and corresponds with what was approved there.” The committee, composed of senior officials from relevant institutions, has been authorized to decide on nuclear issues, it added.
On facilities attacked by Israel and the United States in June, the SNSC said Iran would first provide its own report after obtaining the view of the Supreme National Security Council and then negotiate with the agency on implementation methods.
Any action, it added, “must be approved by the Supreme National Security Council.”
The statement emphasized that “if any hostile action is taken against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its nuclear facilities, including the reinstatement of previously closed Security Council resolutions, the implementation of these arrangements will be halted.”
The remarks come as Britain, France and Germany push ahead with a “snapback” process to restore UN sanctions on Iran unless inspections resume and missing uranium is accounted for. Sanctions will automatically return by late September unless the UN Security Council votes otherwise.
Araghchi has warned the European powers that pursuing the mechanism would mean they “lose everything,” and Tehran has made clear that the new cooperation framework with the IAEA is conditional on no further hostile action.
The IAEA reported this month that Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% reached 440.9 kilograms before the June airstrikes. Grossi said the Cairo deal covers all declared facilities, including those bombed, and aims to re-establish inspections once technical procedures are agreed.
Eslami said Iran would use the Vienna conference “to highlight that our rights and concerns have been recognized and to reaffirm that cooperation will proceed in a way fully consistent with our national legislation.”
