Iran: IAEA No Longer to Access Images of Nuclear Sites

By Staff- Agencies

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf announced that the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] will no longer be able to access images of the Iranian nuclear sites because a monitoring deal with the UN nuclear body has expired.

“From May 22 and with the end of the three-month agreement, the agency will have no access to data collected by cameras inside the nuclear facilities agreed under the agreement, and cannot transfer them,” Qalibaf told the parliament Sunday.

He said the Parliament is fully resolved to implement its Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, which has tasked the administration with suspending extra commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

The decision, he said, is backed by Leader of the Islamic Revolution His Eminence Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei.

Earlier, the IAEA declared that samples taken from Natanz nuclear facility show Iran has enriched uranium to up to 63 percent, adding that the purity level is “consistent with the fluctuations” announced by the Islamic Republic.

“Discussions were held and decisions made yesterday. The law passed by the Parliament will be implemented. The Leader has underlined the importance of this issue as well,” Qalibaf said.

Last December, Iranian lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions.

In February, Iran and the IAEA reached a technical understanding under which Iran agreed to keep the camera footage of its nuclear sites for three months in a goodwill gesture, waiting to see if the other parties to the nuclear deal can bring the US back into full compliance with the accord.

That deadline expired on Saturday, with the prospects of bringing Washington back to compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], as the nuclear deal is officially known, looking uncertain.