Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian put into effect on Wednesday a law passed by parliament last week to suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, Iranian state media reported.
Iran has threatened to halt cooperation with the IAEA, accusing it of siding with Western countries and providing a justification for Israel's air strikes, which began a day after the IAEA board voted to declare Iran in violation of obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The law stipulates that any future inspection of Iran's nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency needs approval by Tehran's Supreme National Security Council.
"We are aware of these reports. The IAEA is awaiting further official information from Iran," the IAEA said in a statement.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with CBS News, that the US bombing of Iran's key Fordow nuclear site has "seriously and heavily damaged" the facility.
"No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged," Araqchi said in the interview broadcast on Tuesday.
"The Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran... is currently undertaking evaluation and assessment, the report of which will be submitted to the government."
Previously Washington Post reported that intercepted Iranian communications downplayed the extent of damage caused by US strikes on Iran's nuclear program, citing four people familiar with classified intelligence circulating within the US government.
President Donald Trump has said the strikes "completely and totally obliterated" Iran's nuclear program, but US officials acknowledge it will take time to form a complete assessment of the damage caused by the US military strikes last weekend.
US claims strikes on Iran N-programme a success
US military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities early Sunday local time using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. The results of the strikes are being closely watched to see how far they may have set back Iran's nuclear programme.
"I'm not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise," Hegseth said in an often fiery news conference that was also watched by President Donald Trump.
Read: Why is Iran's Fordow nuclear site in Israel's crosshairs?
Trump wrote on his social media platform it would have taken too long to remove anything. "The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of (the) facility," he said, without providing evidence.
Several experts cautioned this week that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes, and could be hiding it and other nuclear components in locations unknown to Israel, the US and UN nuclear inspectors.
They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing "unusual activity" on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles outside an entrance at Fordow. An Iranian source told Reuters that most of the 60% highly enriched uranium was moved to an undisclosed location before the US attack.
US bombing on Iran’s Fordow
The United States deployed one of its most advanced weapons platforms, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, to deliver GBU-57A/B “bunker-buster” bombs on Iran’s fortified Fordow nuclear site, during Iran-Israel conflict.
Three Iranian nuclear sites — Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan — were struck using the US Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers.
Iran accused the US and Israel of jointly waging war against its people and said the attack violated the UN Charter and Resolution 2231. Iran said its nuclear research is for civilian energy production.
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