No decision yet on IAEA monitoring deal: Iran
TEHRAN: Iran said on Monday it has yet to decide whether to extend a monitoring deal with the UN nuclear watchdog which lapsed last week, amid Washington’s warning that Tehran’s failure to renew it would complicate talks to revive its 2015 nuclear accord.
“No decision has been made yet, either negative or positive, about extending the monitoring deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a televised weekly news conference.
Iran and world powers are in negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, under which Iran accepted curbs to its nuclear programme in return for the liting of international sanctions.
Iran also said on Monday that it had taken “no decision” to delete footage from surveillance cameras installed at some of its atomic energy facilities by the UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA.
The issue is part of broader talks underway in Vienna aiming to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that has been hanging by a thread since former president Donald Trump withdrew the US from it three years ago.
“No decision has been taken on the deletion of the data” recorded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cameras, said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh.
Washington abandoned the deal in 2018, and Tehran responded by violating some of its nuclear restrictions.
In February, Iran halted an agreement with the IAEA that allowed additional inspections of Iranian nuclear sites. Some inspections were extended under temporary deals, but those expired last Thursday.
On Friday, the IAEA demanded an immediate reply from Iran on whether it would extend the agreement, While U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said any failure to extend it would be a “serious concern” for broader negotiations.
France’s foreign ministry said in a daily briefing on Monday that it regreted Iran’s lack of response, but declined to say whether it would have any broader consequences for the wider talks.
“Iran must resume cooperation with the IAEA and immediately restore its full access,” it said.