No IAEA Access to New Nuclear Site in Iran before Conclusion of Vienna Talks: Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s ambassador to the Vienna-based organizations said the IAEA will have no access to the country’s new nuclear site in Isfahan before the ongoing talks on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reach a definitive result.
Mohammad Reza Ghaebi made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Monday after the IAEA announced that Iran has informed the world body that it would move the production of centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows from TESA Karaj Complex to Isfahan.
He said the process "has not started yet," adding, "The IAEA will be able to adjust its surveillance rules accordingly, although the information gathered through that surveillance process will remain in Iran and the IAEA will not have access to it until Tehran resumes its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA," referring to the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The Iranian diplomat emphasized that the IAEA's Monday report was a routine update issued by the Agency, which provides the "latest technical information on Iran's nuclear activities to its members," Press TV reported.
In its Monday statement, the UN nuclear agency said its inspectors had installed surveillance cameras in a new workshop in Isfahan on January 24 to ensure the machines intended for the production of centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows were under monitoring but the production of the parts there had not started then.
The UN nuclear agency noted that the production of centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows at TESA Karaj Complex has been ceased.
Back in December, Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said that the country had allowed the IAEA to reinstall its surveillance cameras at TESA Karaj Complex only after the UN nuclear watchdog met Tehran’s preconditions.
Kamalvandi explained that Iran’s preconditions included technical and security examination of the new IAEA cameras, judicial and security investigations into the dimensions of the June attack against the facility, which damaged the previous cameras, and also the IAEA’s condemnation of such acts of sabotage.
