Iran States No Access to Bombed Nuclear Sites Without IAEA Agreement

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog would not be granted access to Iranian nuclear sites that were targeted during its recent conflict with Israel, unless a concrete deal is reached.

"The facilities that were attacked have their own story, and until a decision is made and a conclusion is reached between us, the IAEA and others, cooperation is not possible," he said in an interview posted to his Telegram channel on Nov. 21, without elaborating on what such an agreement would entail, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.

The interview with the Khabar Online news agency was conducted before the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution Thursday demanding access to the sites.

In mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined with strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.

In the aftermath, Tehran suspended its cooperation with the IAEA and restricted the watchdog's inspectors from accessing the bombed sites, accusing it of bias and failing to condemn the strikes.

"The fact that they came and attacked and left... and now the agency comes to prepare a report for them on where (was attacked) and what happened and how much damage was done is not possible, it is clearly not wise," he added.

In September, Iran and the IAEA agreed on a new cooperation framework, but weeks later Tehran deemed it invalid after Britain, France and Germany triggered the return of UN sanctions that had been lifted under a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.