Iran’s parliament speaker has said that a three-month monitoring deal between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog has expired, escalating tensions amid diplomatic efforts in Vienna to save Tehran’s atomic accord with world powers.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s comments, aired by state TV, further underscored the narrowing window for the US and others to reach terms with Iran.
The Islamic republic is already enriching and stockpiling uranium at levels far beyond those allowed by its 2015 nuclear deal, and now international inspectors may no longer access surveillance images of its nuclear sites.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had said its director-general would brief reporters later Sunday in Vienna. The United Nations agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Iran’s hardline parliament in December approved a bill that would suspend part of UN inspections of its nuclear facilities if European signatories did not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions by February.
The IAEA struck a three-month deal with Iran to have it hold the surveillance images, with Tehran threatening to delete them afterward if no deal had been reached.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the images from February had been deleted.
Credit: theguardian.com
The post We’ll end UN watchdog’s access to nuclear sites -Iran appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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