Iran says it will work with IAEA but inspections may be risky

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DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran plans to cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog despite restrictions imposed by its parliament, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday, while stressing that access to its bombed nuclear sites posed security and safety issues.

A new law passed in Iran following last month’s Israeli and U.S. bombing campaign stipulates that inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needs approval by the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security body.

The Israeli and U.S. strikes targeted a nuclear programme which Western countries have long said was aimed at building an atomic weapon. Iran has long said its nuclear programme is purely peaceful.

Any negotiations over Iran’s future nuclear programme are likely to require its cooperation with the IAEA, which angered Iran last month by declaring on the eve of the Israeli strikes that Tehran was violating non-proliferation treaty commitments.

“The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions … are serious,” state media cited Araqchi as saying. “For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect … and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined.”

While Iran’s cooperation with the nuclear watchdog has not stopped, it will take a new form and will be guided and managed through the Supreme National Security Council, Araqchi told Tehran-based diplomats.

“The IAEA’s requests for continued monitoring in Iran will be … decided on a case-by-case basis by the Council with consideration to safety and security issues,” Araqchi said.

Iran will not agree to any nuclear deal that does not allow it to enrich uranium, Araqchi reiterated. Iran would only agree to talks limited to its nuclear programme and not encompassing defence issues such as its missiles.

Axios cited sources on Saturday as saying Russian President Vladimir Putin had voiced support for the idea of an accord in which Tehran would be barred from enriching uranium. Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim quoted an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any such message to Iran.

Speaking to the state news agency IRNA, Araqchi said Iran was carefully considering the details of any renewed nuclear talks with the U.S. and seeking assurances that Washington would not again resort to military force. “We are in no hurry to enter into unconsidered negotiations,” he added.

Araqchi also said any move by Britain, France and Germany to reimpose international sanctions on Iran through a so-called “snapback” mechanism under an earlier nuclear deal would “end Europe’s role” in Iran’s nuclear issue.

Under the terms of a U.N. resolution ratifying a 2015 nuclear pact, the three European powers could reimpose United Nations sanctions against Tehran by October 18, 2025.

(Reporting by Dubai newsroomEditing by Tomasz Janowski, Sharon Singleton, Peter Graff)