Iran’s senior security official has stated that Tehran will terminate its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and cease participation in international weapons inspections if the ‘snapback’ mechanism is enforced and United Nations sanctions are re-imposed.

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani made the remark in a September 22 interview with the PBS — the American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network.

“If ‘snapback’ mechanisms are enforced, we will end our participation with the IAEA,” he said.

Larijani reiterated Iran’s firm determination not to pursue a nuclear weapon — either now or in the future — and said the acts of aggression by the United States and Israel against three Iranian nuclear facilities in June had made negotiations a “farce”.

On Friday, the UN Security Council will convene to vote on a resolution proposed by Russia and China to postpone the reimposition of sanctions.

Should the council fail to approve the resolution, the United Nations ‘snapback’ sanctions will be triggered on Saturday.

On September 9, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reached an agreement on practical modalities to resume cooperation after a meeting in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

It came after the Iranian Parliament unanimously passed legislation requiring the administration to suspend all cooperation with the IAEA following the Israeli-US aggression, which targeted three of the country’s nuclear sites in a clear violation of international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In August, the European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal, namely Britain, France, and Germany, initiated a 30-day process to activate the so-called snapback mechanism in order to restore all UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. The countdown for re-imposing sanctions is set to expire by the end of September.

Iran has rejected the move as illegitimate, citing the US unilateral withdrawal from the deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the European trio’s decision to align with unlawful sanctions rather than fulfilling their obligations.

In the wide-ranging conversation with FRONTLINE in Tehran, Larijani said, “We have pursued every option and mechanism available for solving this conflict in a peaceful way.”

Larijani said he did not have “any specific information to share” about the extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear sites hit by the American bombing or how much the strikes had set back Iran’s nuclear program.

The Iranian official, however, said, “In my opinion, Iran’s nuclear program can never be destroyed. Because once you have discovered a technology, they can’t take the discovery away. It’s as if you are the inventor of a certain machine, and the machine is stolen from you. You can still make it again.”

He also warned President Donald Trump of the United States that Iran will never surrender in case of new attacks.

Asked to comment about whether the US-Israeli strikes had disrupted the nuclear activity and if there was anything he could say about an underground site south of Natanz, known as Pickaxe Mountain, Iran’s security chief replied: “No, nothing. We haven’t abandoned any of those locations. But in the future they could possibly continue to run as they currently do or be shut down.”

Larijani said Iran expects the Americans to understand that the Islamic Republic is deserving of the same human rights which they proclaim for themselves and that should act with justice and morals in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program.

He cautioned that the US behavior will cause the world to descend into chaos, with the negative consequences that follow.

“The American people did not wish to elect people who will send their soldiers to the grave. They should act properly, and desire for others what they want for themselves.”

Iran and Russia signed a $25 billion deal to build nuclear power plants in Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Friday, just hours ahead of the likely return of sweeping UN sanctions on Iran.

A deal for the construction of four nuclear power plants with a value of $25 billion in Sirik, Hormozgan, was signed between the Iran Hormoz company and Rosatom,” state television said. Iran has just one operational nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the south, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts — just a fraction of the country’s energy needs.

According to state news agency IRNA, each plant will have a capacity of 1,255 megawatts, though no details were provided on the timeline. The move comes as so-called snapback sanctions triggered by the European parties to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran are set to return by the end of Saturday.

Britain, France and Germany triggered the sanctions last month, accusing Iran of failing to adhere to its commitments under the agreement. At a Security Council session on Friday, China, and Russia put forward a draft resolution to allow another half year for talks, but it is unlikely to garner enough support to pass.

Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking an atomic bomb — a charge Tehran vehemently denies, defending its right to a civilian nuclear programme. The United States in 2018 unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear accord with Iran, prompting Tehran to begin walking back its commitments.

Talks between Washington and Tehran to strike a new deal were underway before being derailed by unprecedented Israeli strikes on Iran in June that began a 12-day war, briefly joined by the United States.

Iran had previously signed with Russia a nuclear energy deal in 1993, allowing for the construction of the Bushehr plant, after Germany had abandoned it in the wake of the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Indian police on Friday detained prominent activist Sonam Wangchuk over violent protests in the Himalayan territory of occupied Ladakh that left at least five people dead, a lawyer said.

Demonstrations demanding greater political autonomy for the sparsely populated, high-altitude region bordering China and Pakistan turned deadly on Wednesday when security forces opened fire.

New Delhi blamed the unrests on “provocative speeches” by Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike demanding either full federal statehood for occupied Ladakh or constitutional protections for its tribal communities, land and fragile environment.

Mustafa Haji, a lawyer for the Apex Body Leh — which is spearheading the protests — told AFP that Wangchuk was “picked up” by the police from his village of Uley Tokpo on Friday.

“Charges against him are not known yet,” Haji said.

An engineer by training, Wangchuk, 59, is best known for pioneering water conservation projects in the Himalayas.

He received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018 for his environmental work and contributions to reforming local schooling in occupied Ladakh.

His life and work are said to have inspired a character played by Bollywood star Aamir Khan in the hugely popular movie “Three Idiots”.

Wangchuk, who is a vocal advocate for occupied Ladakh’s environmental protection and tribal rights, was briefly detained by Delhi Police last year during a protest march.

Indian authorities on Thursday cancelled his non-profit’s foreign funding licence.

Modi’s government split occupied Ladakh off from Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, imposing direct rule on both.

New Delhi has yet to fulfil its promise to include Ladakh in the “Sixth Schedule” of India’s constitution, which allows people to make their own laws and policies.

India’s army maintains a large presence in occupied Ladakh, which includes disputed border areas with China.

Troops from the two countries clashed there in 2020, killing at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.