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IAEA cameras to remain off until nuke deal restored, says Iranian official

Early in June, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that Iran had notified the nuclear watchdog about removing 27 monitoring cameras from several nuclear facilities

TASS, July 25. Tehran will keep off the cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) until the deal on Iran’s nuclear dossier is restored, the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said on Monday.

"The surveillance cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency [at Iranian sites] after 2015 will not be turned on until the nuclear deal is restored," Mohammad Eslami declared, as quoted by Al Hadath TV channel.

Early in June, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that Iran had notified the nuclear watchdog about removing 27 monitoring cameras from several nuclear facilities. Grossi called this move "a serious challenge" to his agency’s ability to continue working in Iran to confirm Tehran’s compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program.

Indirect Doha-hosted US-Iranian talks to restore the nuke deal were held in Qatar late in June. Political Director of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora said the sides had failed to achieve the progress they had hoped for.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian announced that Tehran positively assessed the new round of negotiations held in Doha. According to him, the goal of restoring the deal can be achieved "if the US shows realism".

In 2015, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany reached a nuclear deal with Iran in order to address the crisis around its nuclear program. In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the agreement, with Washington slapping its most sweeping sanctions ever on Tehran. The current occupant of the Oval Office, Joe Biden, has repeatedly indicated his support for reentering the nuclear deal.

Since April, Russia, the UK, Germany, China, the US and France have been conducting discussions with Iran in Vienna on reviving the JCPOA in its original form.