Iran warns Europe sanctions threat could derail nuclear site inspections

Iran's top security body warned on Sunday that European threats to reinstate United Nations sanctions could jeopardize fragile efforts to restore international monitoring of the country's nuclear program.

In a statement, the Supreme National Security Council - Iran's most senior authority on defence and foreign policy - said Tehran had recently reached an understanding with the International Atomic Energy Agency that would allow the Vienna-based watchdog to receive regular reports on Iran's nuclear facilities. That step, the Council said, was designed to pave the way for the IAEA to resume long-stalled inspections of sensitive sites across the country.

However, the Council cautioned that "those arrangements will be suspended" in the event of "any hostile action" directed at Iran and its nuclear infrastructure. Such actions, it said, would include the reimposition of UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions that were previously lifted under international agreements.

The warning adds another layer of complexity to the already fraught standoff between Tehran and Western capitals. Iranian officials have repeatedly signalled that if pressure escalates further, they could take the unprecedented step of withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, a move that would deepen global concerns over nuclear proliferation.