VIENNA (AP) – The head of the UN nuclear surveillance agency said on Thursday that Iran will withdraw 27 surveillance cameras from the country’s nuclear sites, increasing the risk that its inspectors will not be able to follow Tehran’s progress , as it enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons. – degree levels.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made the remarks at a press conference rushed to Vienna, alongside an example of cameras installed throughout Iran.
Grossi said the move was a “serious challenge” to his efforts, and warned that within three to four weeks, he would not be able to maintain a “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s agenda.
“It would be a fatal blow” to negotiations over Iran’s torn nuclear deal with world powers, Grossi said.
“When we lose it, no one guesses it,” he added.
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Iran did not immediately acknowledge withdrawing the cameras, though on Wednesday it threatened to take further action amid a years-long crisis that threatens to escalate with new attacks across the Middle East.
Grossi said this would leave “40-year-old” cameras still in Iran. Sites that would see the cameras removed include its Natanz underground nuclear enrichment facility, as well as its Isfahan facility, Grossi said.
“We are in a very tense situation with the negotiations on the nuclear deal at a low ebb,” Grossi added. “Now we are adding this to the image; as you can see, it’s not very nice. “
This satellite image of Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s Natanz underground nuclear site, as well as construction underway to expand the facility on a nearby mountain near Natanz, Iran, May 9 of 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
On Wednesday, Iran said it had shut down two devices the IAEA uses to control enrichment in Natanz. Grossi acknowledged this, saying that among the devices being removed were the in-line enrichment monitor and the flowmeter. These observe the enrichment of uranium gas through pipes in the enrichment facilities.
Iran’s decision comes when the IAEA council censured Tehran for what the agency called the Islamic Republic’s failure to provide “credible information” about artificial nuclear material found at three undeclared sites in the United States. country.
The IAEA said on Thursday that Grossi had told members that Iran had informed the agency that it planned to install two new IR-6 waterfalls in Natanz. A waterfall is a series of centrifuges connected to each other to quickly spin uranium gas to enrich it.
An IR-6 centrifuge spins uranium 10 times faster than first-generation centrifuges to which Iran was limited in its nuclear deal with world powers. In February, Iran had already turned over an IR-6 waterfall at its Fordo underground facility, according to the IAEA.
Iran has previously said it plans to install an IR-6 waterfall in Natanz. The IAEA said on Monday it “verified” the ongoing installation of this waterfall, while the two newly promised new waterfalls were yet to begin.
Centrifugal machines at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran, in an image published on November 5, 2019. (Iran Atomic Energy Organization via AP, File)
Iran and the world powers agreed on a nuclear deal in 2015, which saw Tehran drastically limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the deal, raising tensions across the Middle East and provoking a series of attacks and incidents.
Talks in Vienna over Iran’s broken nuclear deal have been stalled since April. Since the collapse of the agreement, Iran has advanced centrifuges and has a rapidly growing uranium-rich storage.
Non-proliferation experts warn that Iran has enriched uranium enough to 60% purity, a brief technical step from 90% weapon grade levels, to making a nuclear weapon if it decides to do so. .
Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, although UN experts and Western intelligence agencies say Iran had a military nuclear program in place until 2003.
Building a nuclear bomb would take even longer in Iran if it were to pursue a weapon, analysts say, but warns that Tehran’s advances make the program more dangerous. Israel has in the past threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike to stop Iran, and a number of recent killings of Iranian officials are already suspected.
International Atomic Energy Agency inspector installs surveillance equipment at Iran’s uranium conversion facility on the outskirts of Isfahan, Iran, on August 8, 2005 (Photo by AP / Mehdi Ghasemi, ISNA, archive)
Iran has been holding images from IAEA surveillance cameras since February 2021 as a pressure tactic to restore the nuclear deal. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which manages its civilian nuclear program, released a video on Wednesday showing its workers turning off the normal battery and security power of two IAEA cameras.
The resolution of censure at the IAEA meeting in Vienna, sponsored by Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, was approved with the support of 30 of the 35 governors. Russia and China voted against, Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on Twitter. India, Libya and Pakistan abstained.
Following the vote, a joint statement from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States said that censorship “sends an unequivocal message to Iran that it must fulfill its safeguarding obligations and provide technically credible clarifications on issues. pending safeguards “.
Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry criticized the censorship as a “political, incorrect and unconstructive action.”
An Iranian official had earlier warned IAEA officials that Tehran was now also considering “other measures”.
“We hope that they will come to their senses and respond to Iran’s cooperation with the government,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, an Iranian nuclear spokesman. “It is not acceptable for them to behave inappropriately while Iran continues to cooperate.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised the vote as “a significant decision that exposes the true face of Iran.”
“The IAEA vote is a clear warning light for Iran: if Iran continues its activity, the leading countries must return the matter to the UN Security Council,” he said. Bennett, who made an unannounced trip to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (left) meets with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, June 9, 2022 (Kobi Gideon / GPO)
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called the United States “the culprit in the Iranian nuclear crisis” and urged the United States to “respond positively to the legitimate concerns of the Iranian side.”
On Wednesday night, a drone exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, in its Kurdish region, slightly injuring three people and damaging cars and a nearby restaurant, authorities said. The Kurdistan Region’s anti-terrorism directorate-general alleged on Thursday that the Iran-backed Hezbollah or Kataeb Hezbollah Brigades dropped the drone.