The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) decried the limited access his inspectors have to Iranian nuclear facilities in an interview with The Associated Press that was published Tuesday.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi wants Iran to comply with inspection regimes agreed to under the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. But since the US withdrew from the JCPOA back in 2018, Tehran is not bound by the agreement.
Grossi said the limited access his inspectors have gives the IAEA a “very blurred image” of Iran’s civilian nuclear program. His comments come amid renewed negotiations in Vienna to revive the JCPOA.
Earlier this year, Iran stopped voluntarily complying with the Additional Protocol, an aspect of the JCPOA that allows the IAEA to conduct snap inspections. Iran and the IAEA reached a monitoring deal that allowed the nuclear watchdog to access surveillance footage from cameras installed at nuclear facilities, but that agreement was complicated by an Israeli attack on a centrifuge site in Karaj, Iran.
The Israeli attack damaged IAEA cameras, and Iran has not allowed the nuclear watchdog to reinstall them. Iran recently suggested the cameras could have somehow helped facilitate the attack, an idea Grossi dismissed as “absurd.” But the IAEA has refused to condemn the Israeli attack.
Tehran has previously called out the IAEA for hyper-focusing on Iran’s civilian nuclear program while ignoring Israel’s secret nuclear weapons program. The hypocrisy was noticeable in Grossi’s AP interview.
When asked about Israel’s secret nuclear program, Grossi said, “I think the international community would like every country to sign up to the treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and to put all the facilities under safeguards from the IAEA.”
When discussing Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Grossi said his inspectors need full access if the Islamic Republic wants to be “a respected country in the community of nations.”
Grossi should keep crying…!
Solution: U.S. drop the sanctions and return to the JCPOA. Sure, Iran signed the NPT in 1968. The manner Iran is being treated demands that they ignore the U.S. demands and “concerns”. Treating Iran with respect, as well as tell Israel to cool it would go a long way.
No, Israel blew up those cameras, and now a US puppet agency is using lack of those cameras to attack Iran.
Meanwhile, Iran wants the US to pay some diplomatic price to get back what it blew up, both these specific cameras and the larger Deal.