IAEA: Nuclear inspectors have left Iran
Iran has long threatened consequences for the attacks on its nuclear facilities. Cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog has been suspended. Now the international experts are leaving the country.
Following the suspension of Iranian cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have left the country. The IAEA announced this on Platform X in Vienna. The team of inspectors remained in the country during the recent war and has now safely made its way to Vienna, it said.
According to diplomatic sources, only a few IAEA experts had recently been in the Islamic Republic. An IAEA spokesperson declined to comment on how many there were or whether all inspectors had left the country.
Controls are essential, warns the IAEA chiefOn Wednesday, Iran formally suspended its cooperation with the IAEA. The inspectors had no access to the nuclear facilities since they were bombed and damaged during the war with Israel and the United States. What will happen next is unclear. The IAEA quoted its chief, Rafael Grossi, as saying it is extremely important that the IAEA talks with Iran about resuming its essential monitoring missions in Iran as soon as possible.
Israel attacked Iran on June 13, bombing targets across the country. The government cited the threat posed by Iran's controversial nuclear program as the reason. Israel fears that the Islamic Republic could build a nuclear bomb .
Iran denies this and responded with missile and drone attacks. Then the US entered the war and bombed Iran's most important nuclear facilities. The extent of the damage is unclear. After twelve days of war , a ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday of last week.
haz/hf (dpa, rtr, afp)
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