On Sunday, the International Atomic Energy Agency urged Iran to resume talks “immediately” to avert a crisis that would make salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal “very difficult.”
Iran turned off some cameras that allowed international inspectors to observe its nuclear activity this week in response to a June 8 Western resolution condemning Tehran’s lack of cooperation.
In a CNN interview broadcast Sunday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi revealed that 27 monitoring cameras had been “removed,” calling it a “very serious move.”
“Recent history tells us that telling international inspectors to go home is never a smart idea… things get a lot more complicated,” he continued.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed in 2015, exempted Iran from debilitating economic sanctions in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
However, in 2018, then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and reimposed sanctions, pushing Iran to walk away from its own obligations.
Since March, talks to resurrect the agreement have been stuck.
Grossi told CNN that he is urging his Iranian counterparts, “We have to sit down now, we have to right the situation, we have to keep working together.”
Allowing the IAEA inspectors to be there is the only way for Iran to gain the confidence, the trust, that it so desperately needs in order to propel its economy forward.”
