TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran plans to remove 27 cameras from the International Atomic Energy Agency. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said at a news conference that Iran wanted to take this step early on Thursday and that he saw a bleak future for the 2015 nuclear deal.
In addition to the 27 cameras, Tehran deploys more devices with which the International Atomic Energy Agency monitors Iran’s nuclear program. As a result, nearly all of the additional oversight resources from the 2015 agreement were reversed. According to Grossi, this could be a “fatal blow” to the nuclear deal, which is still under negotiation. He believes there are only three or four weeks left before it becomes impossible to revive the deal. About 40 cameras are still in Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Under the original agreement, Iran would halt nuclear activities in exchange for the suspension of international sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency reprimanded Iran for the stalled negotiations. The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany this week drafted a resolution calling on Iran to “fully cooperate” with the nuclear agency. The resolution was approved by 30 of the 35 member states of the Board of Directors. Iran will now shut down its cameras in response to this decision.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report last month that Iran had not sufficiently “clarified” questions about enriched uranium at three unknown sites. A resolution will be needed to send a signal that evading IAEA questions has consequences.
