DUBAI: Iran will keep the UN nuclear watchdog’s cameras turned off until a 2015 nuclear deal is restored, the head of the country’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Monday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) it had removed IAEA equipment, including 27 cameras installed under the 2015 pact with world powers, after the agency passed a resolution criticizing Tehran in June.
“We will not turn on the IAEA cameras until the other side returns to the nuclear deal,” Iranian nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami said.
The 2015 nuclear pact imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Then-president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018, reimposing tough economic sanctions on Tehran.
Iran’s ruling clerics responded by breaching the pact’s nuclear restrictions.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Monday accused IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi of having “unprofessional, unfair and unconstructive views” on Tehran’s nuclear program.
He also added that Tehran hopes a return to the nuclear deal can be reached soon should the United States show goodwill.
“Iran is committed to talks and will continue until a good and sustainable deal is reached,” Kanaani said at his weekly news conference.
Iran’s nuclear program is “galloping ahead” and the IAEA has very limited visibility on what is happening, Grossi told Spain’s El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Friday.
Western powers warn Iran is getting closer to being able to sprint toward making a nuclear bomb. Iran denies wanting to. Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 deal have been stalled since March.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his disappointment to his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi at the lack of progress over talks, the Elysee Palace said on Saturday. The nuclear pact seemed near revival in March but talks were thrown into disarray partly over whether the United States might remove Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from its Foreign Terrorist Organization list. The IRGC controls elite armed and intelligence forces that Washington accuses of a global terrorist campaign.
The Biden administration has made clear it has no plan to drop the IRGC from the list, a step that would have limited practical effect but which would anger many US lawmakers.
Iran will keep IAEA cameras turned off until nuclear deal is restored — Tasnim
https://arab.news/zueyq
Iran will keep IAEA cameras turned off until nuclear deal is restored — Tasnim
- The 2015 nuclear pact imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear activities in return for the lifting of international sanctions
- Then-president Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Tehran
Syria evacuates flood-affected residents of displacement camps in Idlib
- Emergency teams conduct drainage operations, clear culverts within camps, reopen more than 25 roads, 30 water channels
- Teams coordinate with Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, Idlib governor’s office to oversee distribution of humanitarian aid
LONDON: Authorities from the Syrian Arab Republic have evacuated dozens of families from six displacement camps in western Idlib in the past two days after severe weather caused flooding and damage.
Raed Al-Saleh, the Syrian minister of emergency and disaster management, said 173 families had been moved from camps in Badama and Khirbet Al-Jouz to temporary shelter centers in Idlib Governorate.
Emergency teams have conducted drainage operations, cleared culverts within the camps, reopened more than 25 roads and 30 water channels, and removed five earthen berms as part of preparation for further weather systems, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.
They are coordinating with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, and the Idlib governor’s office to oversee the distribution of humanitarian aid.
A rubble removal and road restoration project in Jabal Al-Akrad in the Latakia Governorate has also been initiated to help facilitate residents’ return, the SANA added.
Heavy rainfall in northern and western Syria has resulted in flash floods since Saturday that have swept through areas near seasonal waterways in western Idlib Governorate. The floods have submerged several tents and prompted authorities to evacuate families and open temporary shelters for those displaced.
