The officials from the UN nuclear watchdog had remained in the capital throughout the recent 12 days of fighting.
A team of inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog have left Iran, following Tehran’s decision to suspend cooperation with the organisation after the 12-day conflict with Israel and the United States.
In a statement posted on X on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its employees would return to its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi stressed “the crucial importance” of holding talks with Iran to resume its monitoring and verification work as soon as possible, the post added.
media’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said it was not clear what proportion of the IAEA staff left the country.
“Based on the language used, it is not clear if all or some of them left Iran, but we understand that some of them are still here,” he said.
“What we know is that they did not fly out; this departure happened through land into Armenia yesterday or the day before,” he added.
“And then they went to Vienna,” Serdar said, adding that the development has started an era of “nuclear ambiguity” in Iran.
The inspectors stayed in the Iranian capital throughout the recent fighting, which started on June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian military sites and killed a number of the country’s most senior commanders, top scientists, and civilians.
Since the start of the conflict, Iranian officials have sharply criticised the IAEA not only for failing to condemn the Israeli and US strikes, but also for passing a resolution on June 12 accusing Tehran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations, the day before Israel attacked.
On Wednesday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the country to cut ties with the nuclear watchdog. A bill to suspend cooperation had already been passed in the Iranian parliament and approved by the country’s Guardian Council.
Guardian Council spokesperson Hadi Tahan Nazif said the decision had been taken for the “full respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
The bill itself says the suspension “will remain in effect until certain conditions are met, including the guaranteed security of nuclear facilities and scientists”, according to Iranian state television.
On Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi summarily dismissed Grossi’s request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the US.
Distrust of IAEA
“Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,” Araghchi said, adding that “Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defence of its interests, its people and its sovereignty.”
The US Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce called Iran’s decision to suspend cooperation with the IAEA “unacceptable”, urging Tehran “to reverse course and choose a path of peace and prosperity”.
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