Shafaq News – Tehran

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed an agreement in Cairo on Tuesday to resume cooperation, including steps to restart inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities.

The deal was announced after a meeting between Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi. It comes at a time when France, Germany, and the United Kingdom began proceedings on August 28 to reimpose sanctions on Iran under the Snapback process, citing violations of the 2015 nuclear agreement intended to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the draft cooperation protocol had reached its final stage after three rounds of negotiations with the IAEA. He told Mehr news agency that the text “takes into account the realities on the ground resulting from the unlawful attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against Iranian nuclear facilities,” adding that the protocol reflects laws adopted by parliament and considerations of the Supreme National Security Council.

Grossi welcomed the outcome, writing on X that he was “grateful to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for providing the framework that enabled today’s agreement on technical modalities for the implementation of inspections in Iran,” describing it as “a step in the right direction that opens the door for diplomacy and stability.”

Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA in July after parliament passed a law halting collaboration with the UN watchdog, following Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear sites during a 12-day conflict in June. Since then, inspectors have only visited the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, where they monitored a fuel replacement operation in late August.

The IAEA has been unable to verify Iran’s near bomb-grade uranium stockpile since the outbreak of the June conflict, a situation it has described as “a matter of serious concern.”