Iranian regime deepens tensions with West: announces it will not submit images of its nuclear facilities to the UN

Iranian parliament speaker, conservative Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf, said on Sunday that recorded images of the country’s nuclear facilities would not be turned over to the IAEA, as the bilateral and interim agreement expired on the 24th.

“After (the agreement) expired, nothing was renewed and therefore none of the information recorded in Iran will be turned over to the (UN nuclear) agency,” Qalibaf told parliament.

The images are “in the possession of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, explained Qalibaf, who stressed that in this way the law promulgated by the Parliament last December “is exactly respected”.

The aforementioned law in one of its articles forced Iran to stop complying with the so-called Additional Protocol, which allows for unannounced inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of any nuclear facility. in the Persian country.

Under the law, access to international inspectors was restricted last February, but the IAEA entered into a three-month verification agreement, which was extended for one month in May and expired on June 24.

IAEA Director Rafael Grossi announced two days ago that he had not yet received a response from Iran on the possible extension of the interim agreement and considered it “essential “to know the Iranian position on the issue.

Iranian representative to the UN nuclear agency, Kazem Gharibabadi, replied yesterday that the agreement on inspections “should not be seen as an obligation” for his country. The agreement stipulated that the recordings would be kept at Iranian nuclear sites but that these images would not be released to the IAEA until US sanctions against Iran were lifted.

To bring about the end of these sanctions and the return of the United States. The 2015 nuclear agreement, JCPOA for its acronym in English, as well as strict compliance by Iran with its obligations, nuclear negotiations have been taking place in Vienna since last April.

A final conclusion was expected in the next and seventh round of negotiations, but talks could be hampered if Iran does not renew the interim verification agreement with the IAEA, which the Supreme National Security Council will have to decide.

Yesterday, foreign spokesman Said Jatibzadeh said on Twitter that Iran was “the most active party” in the Vienna nuclear talks but “will not negotiate indefinitely”.

“Iran continues to believe that a deal is possible if the United States decides to abandon (Donald) Trump’s failed legacy,” Jatibzadeh added, referring to the sanctions imposed during the Republican presidency.

Hurry up

The United States and France on Friday warned Iran that time is running out to return to an agreement on the nuclear program., to which Tehran replied that it was up to them to make a “decision”.

During the first high-level visit to Paris by President Joe Biden’s administration, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his French hosts hailed a new spirit of cooperation after four years of unrest under Donald Trump. But both sides have said a key Biden promise – to revert to the 2015 Iran nuclear pact deal that was torpedoed by Trump – was at risk if the Iranian regime does not make concessions through months of talks. in Vienna.

“There will come a time when yes, it will be difficult to revert to the standards” of the agreement, Blinken told reporters. “We haven’t reached that moment, I can’t put a date, but it’s something we are aware of,” he added.

Blinken warned that if Iran “continues to use more and more sophisticated centrifuges” and increases uranium enrichment, it will accelerate the “downtime” when it is close to the capacity to develop a bomb. nuclear.

France – which like Britain, Germany, Russia and China had stuck to the 2015 deal despite pressure from Trump – also increased pressure on Iran to return to the pact. “We hope that the Iranian authorities will take the final decisions, no doubt difficult, which will allow the negotiations to be concluded,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said at a joint press conference with Blinken.

With information from EFE and AFP

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