US, EU press Iran after Cairo nuclear deal with IAEA

Tasnim reported on Thursday that Tsurkov was freed in exchange for two members of the “resistance,” a term used in Tehran to refer to allied armed groups. The agency’s Baghdad correspondent said one of those released was Imad Amehz, a Lebanese national who was seized by Israeli commandos in northern Lebanon last year.

Earlier Iraqi media had reported that Tsurkov was freed by security forces, without mentioning a swap. Neither Baghdad nor Washington has confirmed Tasnim’s account.

Tsurkov, a Princeton University PhD student and fellow at the New Lines Institute, disappeared in March 2023 while conducting field research in Baghdad. She was believed to have been held by Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite militia accused of involvement in abductions and attacks on US and Israeli interests in Iraq.

The group denied responsibility, but an Iraqi official told Israel’s Channel 11 last year that Tsurkov was initially detained by Iraq’s intelligence service — or by individuals posing as its officers — before being transferred to Kata’ib Hezbollah.

Trump announces release

US President Donald Trump announced Tsurkov’s release on Tuesday, saying she was now “safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months.” Her sister Emma confirmed the news and thanked the Trump administration for its efforts, noting her release came after 903 days in captivity.

Tsurkov’s fate drew wide international attention during her more than two years in captivity.

Parliament pushes back

Hosseini-Kia’s remarks reflect a broader backlash in parliament, where lawmakers say the Cairo accord ignores legislation suspending cooperation with the agency. National Security and Foreign Policy Commission member Mohammadreza Mohseni-Sani said inspectors have “no right” to enter Iran until nuclear sites damaged in June’s US and Israeli strikes are restored. “If the 30-day snapback period ends with sanctions restored, we will pursue and approve a plan to leave the NPT,” he warned.

Calls for tougher measures

Some lawmakers have gone further, arguing Iran should no longer limit itself to peaceful nuclear work. Ahmad Bakhshayesh, also on the security commission, told state media Iran should build a bomb because it has already “paid the costs” in the 12-day conflict. “We should have built it long ago,” he said. “We should have built it without leaving the NPT.”

Parliament is already considering a bill to withdraw from the treaty, though former nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi has said only Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei can make that decision.

Former officials urge caution

While hardliners demand confrontation, Salehi has struck a different note. The former atomic energy chief called the Cairo accord “positive and a step forward” but warned time is short. “Opportunities are like passing clouds,” he said. “The longer it takes, the more complicated the problem will become.”

‘Cursed agreement’ denounced

Even those who stop short of calling for a bomb or leaving the NPT have used sharp words. Hardline lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian described Araghchi’s Cairo accord as a “cursed agreement.” On X, he accused Grossi of being “the spy and the cursed one, who caused the martyrdom of hundreds of our commanders, scientists and compatriots.”

Pattern of hostility toward Grossi

The latest attacks on Grossi build on threats voiced earlier this summer. In July, deputy judiciary chief Ali Mozaffari said Grossi could face trial in absentia for “deceptive actions and falsified reports” that Iran claims enabled strikes on nuclear facilities. At the time, a hardline newspaper even called for his execution.

Those comments drew condemnation from Britain, France and Germany, which expressed “full support” for Grossi and the IAEA. European powers last month triggered the snapback mechanism, giving Tehran until later in September to comply or face restored UN sanctions.

Government defends Cairo deal

Despite the criticism, Araghchi insists the Cairo agreement safeguards Iran’s interests. He said it “recognizes Iran’s legitimate security concerns” but “creates no access.” Any inspections, he explained, will only be discussed after Iran submits reports in later talks

“I’ve always believed we should have built it long ago. I’ve always supported building a nuclear bomb because we’ve already paid the costs for it,” national security committee member Ahmad Bakhshayesh told state media on Tuesday.

Bakhshayesh argued that nuclear-armed China is a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and that Iran should have taken the same path long ago.

“We should have built it without leaving the NPT,” he added. “We’ve been entangled in this nuclear issue in our country for 25 years now.”

Beijing acceded to the NPT in 1992 but conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1964. China is one of the five recognized nuclear-weapon states under the agreement, alongside the US, Russia, the UK, and France.

NPT debate in Tehran

Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom last month triggered the so-called "snapback" mechanism within a 2015 international nuclear deal to which they are party along with Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to comply with the agreement or face restored international sanctions.

Calls have grown inside Iran to withdraw from the NPT in response.

A bill to exit the agreement is under review in the Iranian parliament. Some lawmakers argue the legislature can pass the measure on its own, while former nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the ultimate decision rests with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

'No inspection yet'

UN nuclear chief Raphael Grossi on Wednesday inked a deal to pave a way forward on resuming cooperation with Iran alongside its foreign minister Abbas Araghchi at a ceremony in Cairo.

Araghchi later told state TV that the Cairo agreement “recognizes Iran’s legitimate security concerns" and does not by itself reopen facilities to inspectors.

The three European powers said on Wednesday they were alarmed by the lack of clarity on Iran's stockpile of near-bomb-grade uranium and that Tehran must show not claim if it wanted to avoid more sanctions.

“The US government is complicit in these crimes and has no respect or regard for global public opinion or even for its own allies,” Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a statement carried by state media.

"Through direct and indirect support for the Zionist regime’s crimes, the United States seeks to create insecurity in the world and the region, promoting international terrorism to advance its sinister, colonial, and exploitative goals," it added.

Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas office in Doha on Tuesday, in what Israel described as an targeted attack against the group’s senior leadership.

They seemed to miss their intended targets, killing a Qatari security official and five lower-ranking Hamas personnel.

Qatar denounced the attack as “criminal and cowardly,” while Iran called it an “extremely dangerous” violation of sovereignty and international law.

"This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me," US President Donald Trump said following the attack. Netanyahu said Israel acted alone and "takes full responsibility."

The US military's Al Udeid Air Base is the largest in the Middle East.

Hamas has long based its political leadership in the gas-rich Persian Gulf state, which has traditionally acted as a mediator in regional conflicts.

'Insane war machine'

Iran’s military also criticized Israel’s wider military campaigns in the region, calling for a united international response.

“There is an urgent need to halt this regime’s insane war machine and for all countries to sever ties with it,” the statement said. Tehran has long been ill at ease with Arab neighbors' improving ties with Israel.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates opened formal relations with Israel in the so-called Abraham Accords in 2020, but both condemned the attacks.

Iran's new national security chief Ali Larijani warned neighbors of what he described as Israel's hegemonic ambitions in a post in Arabic on social media on Wednesday.

“The message of the Zionist entity’s recent crime in Qatar is clear: O countries of the region! Prepare yourselves for my coming domination.”

Iran will likely cite the attack as a reason Arab states should beware of Israel, analysts told Iran International.

The Doha strike comes as Iran recalibrates its foreign policy after a June war with Israel and the United States battered its military and nuclear infrastructure.

Iran’s armed forces said support for what it called resistance to Israel around the region, adding it will “defend the defenseless and oppressed people of Palestine and Gaza.”

"To put it bluntly, there up to this moment near zero IAEA oversight of Iran’s nuclear programme, and there are thousands of kilos of enriched uranium in Iran which the IAEA has not been able to verify for nearly three months," the European troika said.

"It is not enough for Iran to make promises for tomorrow, we need to see evidence from Iran today that demonstrates it is ready for a diplomatic solution that addresses the international community’s concerns."

"That starts by showing, not claiming, that it is meeting the fair and reasonable conditions set by the E3 for a Snapback extension," the statement read.

The E3's remarks came in the form of an open letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is tasked with inspections of Iranian nuclear sites.

"Iran is obfuscating the status and location of this material from the international community, and Iran refused to allow the Agency to verify this stockpile," it added.

Sanctions loom

The three powers last month triggered the so-called "snapback" mechanism within a 2015 international nuclear deal to which they are party along with Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to comply with the agreement or face restored international sanctions.

IAEA chief Raphael Grossi inked a deal to pave a way forward on resuming cooperation with Iran alongside its foreign minister Abbas Araghchi at a ceremony in Cairo on Wednesday.

Grossi said the new deal covers inspections at all of Iran’s declared nuclear sites, including those hit by Israeli and US strikes in June, in what he called a step in the right direction toward restoring safeguards.

IAEA inspectors quit the country for safety reasons during the war but subsequently returned, though they have not resumed most of their duties.

Araghchi said on Wednesday the deal does not currently allow inspectors into nuclear sites and access would be discussed in future talks, adding the accord’s survival depends on Western powers refraining from restoring UN sanctions.

'Critical jucnture'

The E3 in its letter said Iran must swiftly engage in diplomacy to provide an extension to the sanctions and meet what it called its "fair and achievable" conditions: unconditional talks with Washington, compliance with safeguarding obligations and transparency on its uranium stockpile.

"We are at a critical juncture," it wrote. "The E3 have been clear to Iran and the international community that we remain committed to diplomacy."

"It is now up to Iran to quickly take concrete steps to demonstrate it is serious about finding a diplomatic solution and to engage meaningfully with our offer, which will remain on the table during the 30-day window before snapback takes effect," the E3 added.

Iran’s parliament has since adopted a law suspending cooperation, a serious obstacle to renewed cooperation.

'No guarantee'

The IAEA-Iran agreement on Tuesday appears to provide few concrete guarantees on when the watchdog's work can resume and may give little impetus to the European powers to take a softer line.

"I understand that the European view is that Tuesday’s agreement is very UNLIKELY to shift the plans on SnapBack," Wall Street Journal correspondent Laurence Norman wrote on X on Wednesday.

"The Europeans see the absence of clear timelines and deadlines as a major problem — effectively guaranteeing nothing."