Iran turns off two IAEA beyond safeguards installed cameras

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has announced Iran has turned off two of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cameras which were installed voluntarily beyond safeguards obligations.

In a statement issued on June 8, the AEOI said that Iran has cooperated with the UN atomic body beyond its safeguards commitments to show its goodwill, adding that but unfortunately, the IAEA has not appreciated Tehran's moves, instead it has viewed Tehran’s voluntary move as part of Iran’s duty, according to the Mehr news agency. 

It added that as a consequence, Iran has decided that the operation of the cameras of the On-Line Enrichment Monitor or OLEM and the IAEA’s flow meter should be stopped from today. The relevant authorities have been ordered to take the step.

The AEOI however noted that 80 per cent of the IAEA’s surveillance cameras are within Iran’s obligations under the safeguards agreement and that they will be in place and will keep working.

According to Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman of the organization, attended one of the nuclear centres on Wednesday and monitored the removal of two IAEA cameras.

Behrouz Kamalvandi said that in accordance with the Strategic Law of the Lifting of Sanctions approved by the parliament, Iran decided to remove beyond safeguards cameras that were recording data in its nuclear sites. No information would be recorded from now on.

Following the release of a recent report by Rafael Grossi, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as efforts by three European countries and the United States to draft an anti-Iran resolution at the IAEA Board of Governors, the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran explicitly stated that Iran will respond promptly and effectively to these actions, and the countries that are pushing for the adoption of an anti-Iranian resolution by the United Nations nuclear watchdog will be responsible for all the consequences.

Iran has also repeatedly cautioned in the past that the adoption of an anti-Iranian resolution was counterproductive to ongoing talks aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Addressing the BoG meeting on Monday, IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi claimed that Iran has not provided credible explanations for the presence of nuclear material discovered at the country's three unannounced sites.

This is not the first time that Grossi has made allegations against Iran, despite the country's full cooperation and IAEA's comprehensive inspections of Iran's peaceful nuclear program.