[News] Betrayed by western snapback: Iran dumps IAEA deal

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Betrayed by western snapback: Iran dumps IAEA deal

Tehran’s attempt at diplomatic detente was met with an escalation by the US
and the E3. Now Iran has pulled the plug on a key nuclear safeguards deal
brokered by Cairo.

Fereshteh Sadeghi <https://thecradle.co/authors/fereshteh-sadeghi-101>

NOV 25, 2025 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/betrayed-by-western-snapback-iran-dumps-iaea-deal
Photo Credit: The Cradle

Just hours before his visit to France to discuss Iran’s nuclear file,
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned
<https://en.isna.ir/news/1404090402381/Araghchi-Warns-Against-Militant-Unilateralism-at-OPCW-Conference>
:

“International relations face unprecedented crises due to militant
unilateralism. Repeated violations of international law – including ongoing
conflicts in West Asia – reflect the backing of the United States and the
tolerance of certain European states.”

This underscores Tehran’s defiant stance as it moves in its nuclear
diplomacy. Just three months after Israeli-US airstrikes targeted Iranian
nuclear sites, Tehran signed a significant security agreement with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It did not last long.

The so-called Cairo Agreement, signed in September and brokered by Egypt,
was meant to defuse tensions. Yet that same month, the western-backed IAEA
was warned
<https://thecradle.co/articles/grossi-again-irans-new-iaea-deal-smells-like-jcpoa-2-0>
against “any hostile action against Iran – including the reinstatement of
cancelled UN Security Council resolutions” in which case the deal would
become “null and void.”

Of note, Iran–IAEA relations had been deteriorating since June during
the 12-day
US-Israeli war <https://thecradle.co/articles/iran-and-israel-at-war> on
Iran. The IAEA and its director general, Rafael Grossi, refused to condemn
the attacks on Iranian civilians and nuclear facilities, and the targeted
assassinations of nuclear scientists and senior military officers.

The IAEA’s refusal to condemn the US-Israeli violations made Iranians
furious. They accused Grossi of paving the ground for the strikes and being
Israel’s footman
<https://www.asriran.com/fa/news/1070349/روزنامه-جمهوری-اسلامی-گروسی-مهره-جیره‌خوار-اسراییل-است-و-به-فرمان-اسراییلی-ها-عمل-می‌کند>.
The Islamic Republic formally lodged a protest with the UN Secretary
General and the Security Council against Grossi, arguing he breached the
IAEA’s neutrality
<https://snn.ir/fa/news/1285174/نقش-پنهان-آژانس-انرژی-اتمی-در-پوشش-تجاوزات-و-جنگ‌افروزی‌های-غربیآقای-گروسی-شرم-کنید-و-استعفا-دهید>
.

*Resistance to western coercion*

The Iranian parliament – or Majlis – raised the bar by ratifying
legislation that suspended cooperation between Tehran and the international
nuclear watchdog. The law was passed
<https://www.icana.ir/news/398863/کلیات-و-جزئیات-طرح-تعلیق-همکاری-ایران-با-آژانس-تصویب-شد-تعلیق>
immediately after the war ended on 25 June.

It declared Grossi and his inspectors “persona non grata” and forbade them
from travelling to Iran or visiting Iranian nuclear facilities. The law
stipulated that the suspension will continue so long as the security and
safety of Iranian nuclear installations and scientists have not been
guaranteed.

Nevertheless, the Egyptian-mediated Cairo Agreement appeared to thaw the
standoff, if temporarily. It was signed
<https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/multimedia/videos/statement-by-iaea-director-general-on-iran>
in the presence of Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi and Grossi, and
ambiguously framed as a deal on “implementing the Safeguards Agreement.”

Few details were made public then; while the IAEA called it a deal on
“practical modalities and implementation of the Safeguards Agreement”, the
Iranian side insisted it was “a new regime of cooperation.”

State news agency, IRNA, elaborated, “the agency will not engage in
monitoring activities provided Iran has not carried out environmental and
nuclear safety measures at its bombed facilities.” IRNA referred
<https://www.irna.ir/news/85938026/قصه-قاهره-نگاهی-به-جزئیات-مذاکرات-و-پیام-توافق-ایران-و-آژانس>
to the Supreme National Security Council as the sole body that “could
greenlight the IAEA monitoring missions inside Iran, case by case.”

Iran’s diplomatic maneuvering, including the deal with the IAEA, was
obviously part of the broader strategy to prevent the UK, France, and
Germany from activating the snapback
<https://thecradle.co/articles/e3-snapback-may-trigger-iranian-nuclear-double-down>
mechanism, in the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the five permanent
members of the Security Council plus Germany.

The European Troika (E3), who were clearly dissatisfied with the Cairo
Agreement, reiterated
<https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/european-powers-pressure-iran-on-nuclear-inspections-threaten-sanctions/3690613>
“Tehran needs to allow inspections of sensitive sites and address its
stockpile of highly enriched uranium.”

*Snapback triggers collapse*

A threat to terminate the Cairo Agreement actually came three days after it
was clinched, when Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned that
<https://en.irna.ir/news/85925240/Tehran-warns-E3-that-snapback-activation-will-threaten-Iran-IAEA>
“launching the snapback mechanism would put the ongoing cooperation between
Iran and the IAEA at risk.” Nevertheless, the UK, France, and Germany moved
ahead
<https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/e3-countries-welcome-activation-of-snapback-sanctions-on-iran-/3701452>
with the snapback activation.

Araghchi’s first reaction
<https://www.asriran.com/fa/news/1102568/چرا-ایران-با-آژانس-در-قاهره-توافق-کرد-فیلم>
noted that “in regards to the E3’s move, the Cairo agreement has lost its
functionality.” Iranians had also vowed to halt
<https://www.isna.ir/news/1404062817018/اگر-اسنپ-بک-اجرا-شود-توافق-قاهره-متوقف-می-شود-به-نظام-تحریمی>
cooperation
with the IAEA. However, they did not fulfill that threat and collaborated
in silence.

The IAEA inspectors visited some Iranian nuclear sites
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iaea-inspectors-visited-iranian-nuclear-sites-last-week-foreign-ministry-says-2025-11-10/>
in early November. However, they were not given access to the US-bombed
<https://thecradle.co/articles/us-attacks-on-iran-damaged-only-one-of-three-nuclear-sites-targeted-report>
Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities.

Even this tactical compliance failed to shield Tehran from a new IAEA
censure. On 20 November, the agency’s Board of Governors passed a
US-E3-backed resolution
<https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iaea-board-passes-resolution-demanding-answers-access-iran-2025-11-20/>
ignoring Iran’s cooperation and demanding immediate access to all affected
sites and data.

It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Iran condemned the move
<https://en.irna.ir/news/86002878/Foreign-Ministry-IAEA-BoG-resolution-on-Iran-s-peaceful-nuclear>
as “illegal, unjustifiable, irresponsible, and a stain on the image of its
sponsors.”

Araghchi on his X account
<https://x.com/araghchi/status/1991832932625924381?s=46&t=nxLMX6ojzDoDtV-T_NHl5A>
posted, “like the diplomacy which was assaulted by Israel and the US in
June, the Cairo Agreement has been killed by the US and the E3.”

For the second time, Iran’s top diplomat announced the termination of the
Cairo Agreement, “given that the E3 and the US seek escalation, they know
full well that the official termination of the Cairo Agreement is the
direct outcome of their provocations.”

Iran’s representative to the IAEA, Reza Nadjafi, told
<https://x.com/bbcpersian/status/1991514203715162220?s=46&t=nxLMX6ojzDoDtV-T_NHl5A>
reporters that “If the US claims success in destroying Iran’s Natanz and
Fordow facilities, then what is left for inspections?” and further warned,
“any decision (by the IAEA) has its own consequences.”

*Back to confrontation*

By applying pressure through the IAEA, the E3 and the US seek to coerce
Iran into opening the doors of its bombed nuclear sites to the IAEA
inspectors, to hand over the 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60
percent, which the US believes is still intact,
<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/24/jd-vance-trump-iran-nuclear-program>
and “to eliminate Iran’s ability to convert that fuel into a nuclear
weapon.”

The collapse of the Cairo Agreement marks a return to the kind of standoff
that defined US–Iran relations from 2005 to 2013, when Iran's nuclear file
was sent to the UN Security Council, and sanctions were imposed under Chapter
VII <https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-7>.

Some skeptics
<https://donya-e-eqtesad.com/بخش-سرمقاله-28/4230494-پیامدهای-قطعنامه-شورای-حکام>
believe
US President Donald Trump's administration would not only take Iran to the
Security Council but would also cite the chapter in question, which
sanctions the use of military force against any country deemed a threat to
global peace.

While Iran signed the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in
hopes of avoiding that scenario, the US's unilateral withdrawal under
Donald Trump's first term in 2018 and the E3’s failure to meet their
obligations rendered the agreement toothless.

June’s US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear infrastructure
confirmed for Tehran that western powers have no intention of engaging in
diplomacy in good faith.

*Toward a new strategy *

According to IRNA, which echoes the official line of the Iranian
government, “Iran feels that the goodwill gestures it has shown towards the
IAEA and the United States, have drawn further hostility. Therefore, maybe
now it is the time to change course and revise its strategy and the rule of
engagement with international bodies, including the IAEA.”

Some observers
<https://www.yjc.ir/fa/news/9028340/الزامات-راهبرد-هسته‌ای-ایران-بعد-از-لغو-توافق-قاهره>
believe Iran’s first step to map out a new strategy is pursuing the policy
of “nuclear ambiguity, remaining silent regarding the whereabouts of the
stockpile of the highly-enriched uranium and quietly halting the
implementation of the [Nuclear] Non-Proliferation Treaty, without
officially admitting it.”

In the latest development, the chairman of the Parliament’s National
Security Committee has vowed that
<https://en.irna.ir/news/86004450/Iran-committed-to-pursue-nuclear-progress-vigorously-Lawmaker>
“Iran will sturdily pursue its nuclear achievements.” Ibrahim Azizi has
cautioned the US and Europe that “Iran has changed its behavior post June
attacks and they’d better not try Iran’s patience.”

That posture is hardening. In September, over 70 Iranian lawmakers urged
the Supreme National Security Council to reconsider Iran’s defense doctrine
<https://thecradle.co/articles-id/33288> – including its long-standing
religious prohibition on nuclear weapons.

They argue that the regional and international order has changed
irreversibly since Israel and the US jointly bombed the Iranian nuclear
facilities. While citing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s 2010 fatwa
banning nuclear weapons, they assert that in Shia jurisprudence, such
rulings may evolve when conditions change – especially when the survival
<https://thecradle.co/articles/existential-threat-can-bring-changes-to-irans-nuclear-doctrine-tehran>
of the Islamic Republic is at stake.

Iran is also working to immunize itself against any escalation at the UN
Security Council. Here, it banks on the veto power of Russia and China to
neutralize any western effort to reimpose sanctions.

The collapse of the Cairo Agreement marks a turning point in Tehran’s
nuclear diplomacy. It is a conclusion drawn from years of unmet commitments
and military escalation that western multilateralism has exhausted its
credibility.
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