According to a report by the US-based Arms Control Association released on 1 May, the UN-affiliated International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has begun to reinstall cameras across certain nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic, in line with an agreement reached between Tehran and the agency in March this year.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi was quoted as saying in an April 1 interview with PBS that the agency is beginning with “the installment of cameras [and the] reconnection of some online monitoring systems,” adding that the process will take a few weeks, but will “increase the agency’s visibility into Iran’s nuclear program.”
In June 2022, Iran shut down several IAEA cameras in a number of Iranian nuclear facilities. At the time, Tehran claimed that those specific cameras were installed in violation of the ‘safeguards agreement’ between Iran and the agency.
This was in line with Iran’s concern that the IAEA was a ‘politically compromised’ organization, given its repeated failure to address any concerns relating to Israel’s atomic energy program and large nuclear arsenal.
In August of that year, Tehran and Washington got closer to reaching a deal than ever before after talks resumed following an EU-drafted proposal to revive the 2015 nuclear deal under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Not long after, efforts stalled once again as the result of a coordinated Israeli pressure campaign aimed at preventing Washington from going through with an agreement. The revival of the deal ultimately failed, as western-sponsored civil unrest began to unfold on the streets of the Islamic Republic.
In early March this year, Grossi visited Iran and held talks with the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammed Eslami. Despite the need to work out ‘remaining challenges,’ the talks were reported as having been positive.
Iran and the IAEA agreed on the agency’s reinstalment of cameras during Grossi’s recent trip to Iran.
According to the joint-statement released after the March meeting, the AEOI agreed on a “voluntary basis” to permit the UN watchdog’s implementation of “further appropriate verification and monitoring activities.”
“Modalities will be agreed between the two sides in the course of a technical meeting which will take place soon in Tehran,” the statement added.
However, “after the agreement was announced, the AEOI and IAEA offered different interpretations about what would be included under the agreement, raising questions about whether it would be implemented,” the Arms Control Association report says.