Talks began in April last year to reintegrate the United States into the 2015 deal, lifting sanctions and for Iran to comply again by curtailing its nuclear activities. However, negotiations have stalled since March, and members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday adopted a resolution criticizing Iran for its lack of co-operation with the watchdog, further escalating tensions. Iran condemned the proposal as “unconstructive”, announcing earlier on Wednesday that it had disconnected some IAEA cameras monitoring its nuclear facilities. “What we have learned is that 27 cameras … are being removed in Iran,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters on Thursday. “So that, of course, poses a serious challenge to our ability to continue working there.” Grossi urged Iran to work with him “immediately.” He said that if a solution to the issue was not found within three to four weeks, it would be “a fatal blow” to the negotiations. Grossi said about 40 surveillance cameras remained in the Islamic Republic. Wednesday’s proposal, which was approved by 30 of the IAEA Board of 35 members, with only Russia and China voting against, was the first to criticize Iran since June 2020. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has criticized the resolution, which was tabled by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, as “political, unconstructive and wrong.” The resolution came after the IAEA said Iran continued to fail to adequately explain the previous discovery of traces of enriched uranium in three locations that Tehran had not said were hosting nuclear activities. Iran, which has already responded angrily to Grossi’s decision to visit Israel ahead of a board meeting, has accused the guard of relying too heavily on “fabricated” reports by Israeli intelligence. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed the IAEA’s reproach on Iran. “We see here a firm stance from countries around the world on the distinction between good and evil, as they make it clear that Iran is hiding things,” Bennett said before heading to the United Arab Emirates, a fellow critic of Iran, for an earlier warning. visit on Thursday. Following the passage of the resolution, the United States, Britain, France and Germany urged Iran to “fulfill its legal obligations and cooperate with the IAEA.” The State Department said that, if confirmed, Iran’s alleged countermeasures were “extremely sad” and “counterproductive” in efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal. The Foreign Ministry in Tehran said that in addition to turning off the cameras in response to the IAEA reprimand, Iran has also installed additional advanced centrifuges for uranium enrichment. The landmark agreement set limits on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for an exemption from international sanctions. But it has been in turmoil ever since then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from this 2018 and re-imposed deadly sanctions. In response, Iran, which has repeatedly denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons capability, has begun to back down from its own commitments under the agreement. European capitals have expressed growing concern about how far Iran has come in resuming nuclear activities since the United States began re-imposing sanctions. Iran has created large reserves of enriched uranium, some of which are enriched to levels much higher than those needed to produce nuclear energy. The IAEA chief said Monday that it would be “a matter of weeks” before Iran could obtain enough nuclear weapons if it continued to develop its program.
