Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that Tehran halted cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog due to what he called the agency chief's "destructive" behaviour towards the Islamic republic, his office said on Monday.
"The action taken by parliament members... is a natural response to the unjustified, unconstructive, and destructive conduct of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency," Pezeshkian told Macron in a phone call late Sunday, according to a presidency statement.
In a Sunday post on X, Macron said he called for "respect for the ceasefire" and a return to negotiations to address "ballistic and nuclear issues."
He further called for "the swift resumption of the IAEA's work in Iran to ensure full transparency."
On Monday, France, Germany, and Britain condemned what they called "threats" against the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi after Iran rejected its request to visit nuclear facilities bombed during the war.
None specified which threats they were referring to, but Iran's ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper recently claimed documents showed Grossi was an Israeli spy and should be executed.
On Monday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the Iranian parliament's decision to halt cooperation with the IAEA reflected the "concern and anger of the Iranian public opinion."
Over 900 killed
Iran's judiciary said at least 935 people were killed in the country during its 12-day war with Israel, state media reported Monday, nearly a week since a ceasefire took hold.
"During the 12-day war waged by the Zionist regime against our country, 935 martyrs have been identified so far," the official IRNA news agency quoted judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ