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Iran begins reducing cooperation with IAEA inspectors

February 24, 2021 at 10:54 am

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Moscow, Russia on January 26, 2021 [Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency]

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced yesterday that Tehran has started to reduce cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

Last December, the Iranian parliament passed the “Strategic Action to Cease Actions and Protect the interest of Iranian Nation law” which prohibits the government from implementing the voluntary measures as envisaged in the 2015 nuclear deal signed with the world powers.

The law, which came into effect yesterday, was in response to the United States’ decision to unilaterally withdraw from the deal in 2018 and reimpose sanctions on Iran previously lifted under the agreement.

Under the new measure, Tehran will stop implementing the “voluntary transparency measures” including the Additional Protocol, which allows IAEA inspectors to visit undeclared sites in Iran at short notice.

Moreover, Iran will no longer share surveillance footage of its nuclear facilities on a daily and weekly basis.

“We officially informed the International Atomic Energy Agency on February 15 that the law will go into effect as of February 23,” Zarif said.

READ: Iran producing highly enriched uranium faster than law requires