On Sunday, Iran announced it will no longer allow inspectors from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to view surveillance footage from its uranium enrichment plants and other nuclear facilities.
A previously agreed-to deal that gave negotiators a three-month window to attempt to complete a renewed JCPOA nuclear deal with Tehran expired this weekend, and Iran has not agreed to an extension.
Instead, Iran threatened on Sunday to delete the past three months of video recordings, thus leaving the international nuclear watchdog agency without any information about Iran’s nuclear activities.
“From 22 May and with the end of the three-month agreement, the agency will have no access to data collected by cameras inside the nuclear facilities agreed under the agreement,” Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in a statement to Iranian media.
“Yesterday it was discussed and the decision was made. The law passed by the parliament will be implemented. The Supreme Leader has underlined the importance of implementing the law as well,” Qalibaf added.
The previous deal, which allowed IAEA nuclear inspectors limited access to footage of Iran’s nuclear sites, followed Iran’s withdrawal from a longer-term agreement allowing more extensive access.
Outgoing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has claimed the US has agreed to lift a range of sanctions as part of talks in Vienna which Rouhani said were “going well.”