Iran cancels accreditation for UN nuclear inspector

Iran cancelled accreditation for a UN nuclear inspector on Thursday, in the latest measure by Tehran to withdraw from parts of a nuclear agreement with world powers.

The nuclear inspector triggered an alarm last week at the entrance to the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, leading Tehran to cancel accreditation.

This led to concerns by authorities that she could be carrying a "suspect product" on her, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation said in a statement posted online.

This led to her being denied entry to the nuclear plant, it added, without specifying whether or not anything had been found in her possession.

The Iranian organisation said it had reported the incident to International Atomic Energy Agency and told the body that the inspector's accreditation had been withdrawn.

She had since left Iran for Vienna, where the IAEA is based, it said, without saying when.

"Iran's representative to the IAEA will present a full report on the matter" in Vienna later Thursday, it added.

According to a source close to the IAEA, the 35 members of its council of governors will hold a special meeting dedicated to Iran.

Under a landmark 2015 deal between Iran and major powers, its nuclear facilities are subject to continuous monitoring by the IAEA.

At the same time, Iran resumed uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow plant south of Tehran on Thursday.

Iran has started to step back from its commitments under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, after the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018.

Engineers began feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into the plant's mothballed enrichment centrifuges in "the first minutes of Thursday", the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation said.