'Fake news': Iran denies ending cooperation with IAEA, lashes out at Germany for supporting Israel and US

A day after reports of Iran suspending cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called it "fake news", saying that Tehran remains committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has not ended cooperation with the IAEA.

In a post on X, Araghchi stated that Iran's cooperation with IAEA will be channeled through Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

"Fake news. Iran remains committed to the NPT and its Safeguards Agreement. In accordance with the new legislation by Majlis, sparked by the unlawful attacks against our nuclear facilities by Israel and the U.S., our cooperation with @iaeaorg will be channeled through Iran's Supreme National Security Council for obvious safety and security reasons," he wrote.

This comes a day after state media reported that Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has granted final approval to a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA. "Masoud Pezeshkian promulgated the law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency," state TV said.

This further follows after the recent US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities including Esfahan, Fordow, and Natanz, during its 12-day war with Iran.

The Iranian foreign minister in his post stressed that the "reality" is, "To Iranians, what truly "sends a devastating message" and destroys "a diplomatic solution" is very obvious."

Targeting Germany for its support to Israel during the war, Araghchi continued, "Germany's explicit support for Israel's unlawful attack on Iran, including safeguarded nuclear sites, as "dirty work" carried out on behalf of the West.

He added that Germany also shamefully supported the unlawful US attack against Iranian nuclear facilities, which "violated international law, the NPT, and the UN Charter."

The foreign minister continued, "Germany's repudiation of its JCPOA commitments by openly demanding "zero enrichment" in Iran."

Araghchi responded to the German Foreign Office's post which they shared on Wednesday, stating, "Iran's decision to suspend cooperation with @iaeaorg sends a devastating message: it eliminates any possibility of international oversight of the Iranian nuclear program, which is crucial for a diplomatic solution. #Iran must reverse this decision."

Araghchi lambasted that Iranians were already put off by "Germany's Nazi-style backing of Genocide in Gaza, and its support for Sadam’s war on Iran" by providing materials for chemical weapons.

He continued to slam Germany for supporting Iran, and said that the explicit German support for the bombing of Iran has "obliterated the notion that the German regime harbors anything but malice towards Iranians."