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The head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi (left) with Rafael Grossi during the negotiations in Tehran
Photo: - / AFP
In an effort to de-escalate the nuclear dispute with Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found an interim solution with Tehran.
It enables the IAEA controls to be continued - albeit in a restricted form.
According to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, the organization will have "less access" to the nuclear facilities in the future, but the agreement will allow "to maintain the necessary level of controls and verification work."
Grossi did not say which of its activities in Iran the IAEA will have to restrict in the future.
He confirmed, however, that the number of IAEA inspectors will remain the same and that short-term controls will continue to be possible.
The technical agreement is initially valid for three months, said Grossi.
He hoped that a broader agreement could be reached by then.
Grossi had traveled to Iran after the country announced this week that it would restrict IAEA inspections of the country's nuclear facilities.
After the talks with Grossi, Iranian UN Ambassador Kasem Gharibabadi said that Iran and the IAEA had "had fruitful discussions on the basis of mutual respect." However, prior to Grossi's arrival, the Iranian leadership had made it clear that the restrictions on IAEA inspections had not been lifted entirely could become.
"This is a parliamentary decision that we also have to implement," said Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to the news channel Press TV on Sunday.
No access to video surveillance
According to this, the IAEA should no longer have access to the video material from the surveillance cameras in the nuclear facilities.
"We will only give access to the videos again when the US has fulfilled its obligations in the nuclear agreement and lifted the sanctions," said Sarif.
The IAEA has video cameras in almost all systems to follow the activities live.
It was initially unclear whether the video surveillance would continue with the new temporary arrangement.
The background to this is the conflict over the Vienna nuclear deal with Iran from 2015. The agreement between Iran and the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia and China was intended to prevent the construction of a nuclear weapon, and in return the sanctions against Tehran should be lifted.
Trump had canceled the deal
However, former US President Donald Trump got out of the deal in 2018 and instead imposed draconian new sanctions.
Since 2019, Iran has also withdrawn step by step from the agreement and violated the agreements contained therein - for example by increasing uranium enrichment and uranium metal production.
Low uranium enrichment and IAEA inspections were among the key points of the Vienna Agreement.
Trump's sanctions plunged the oil-rich country into the worst economic crisis in its history.
This could also have domestic political consequences in the Iranian election year.
Therefore, Iran insists that it will only end the violations of nuclear requirements if the US returns to the deal and immediately lifts the sanctions.
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bah / AFP / dpa