Iran’s state media reported on Sunday that Tehran would never hand over photos of the inside of some Iranian nuclear sites to the United Nations nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
An Iranian flag flies in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters on September 9, 2019 in Vienna, Austria. (File photo: Reuters)
The speaker of Iran’s parliament said on Sunday that Tehran would never hand over images inside some Iranian nuclear sites to the UN nuclear watchdog after a surveillance agreement with the agency had expired, Iranian state media reported.
“The agreement is terminated … any information recorded will never be given to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the data and images will remain in the possession of Iran,” Mohammad Bakar Kalibaf said.
The announcement could further complicate talks between Iran and the six major powers on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Three years ago, then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and imposed severe sanctions on Tehran; Iran reacted to its nuclear program by violating several of the accord’s sanctions.
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A spokesman for parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Affairs warned that “if the United States fails to lift all sanctions, Iran will also turn off the IAEA cameras”, the website of the state-run Tehran Times newspaper said. Told.
The IAEA and Tehran struck a three-month surveillance agreement in February to lessen Iran’s undermining of its cooperation with the agency, and it allowed monitoring of some activities that would otherwise have been axed to continue. Would have gone
Under that agreement, which was extended for a month on 24 May, collecting data continues in a black-box-type arrangement, with the IAEA only being able to access it at a later date.
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On Friday, the IAEA demanded an immediate response from Iran on whether it would extend the surveillance agreement, prompting an Iranian envoy to respond that Tehran was not obligated to respond to.
Iran said on Wednesday that the country’s Supreme National Security Council would decide whether to renew the surveillance agreement only after it expires.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that any failure by Tehran to pursue a monitoring agreement would be a “grave concern” for wider talks.
The parties involved in negotiations on the resumption of the deal, which began in Vienna in April, have said major issues still remain to be resolved before the nuclear deal can be reinstated.
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