Speaker: Iran Not to Deliver Recorded Videos to IAEA

“I have already mentioned about the Agency, and now I say that after the quarter (three-month period) that has expired, nothing has been renewed and after that none of the items recorded in Iran will ever be given to the Agency and are in the possession of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Qalibaf said.

“The law is exactly being enforced,” he stressed.

Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Vienna-Based International Organizations Kazzem Qaribabadi announced on May 24 that his country has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) its decision to extend the deadline for stopping video recording of its nuclear activities.

“The decision of the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue the IAEA camera recordings for maximum another month was declared today (Monday) to the IAEA director-general (Rafael Grossi),” Qaribabadi said.

“The [recorded] data of the last three months are still in the possession of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and will not be transferred to the Agency”, unless Iran and the world powers come into terms with each other to revive the nuclear deal, he added.

Qaribabadi noted that the data for the next month will also remain only with Iran, adding that the terms and conditions for transferring or withholding the recorded data in the next one month will be similar to those of the three-month period mentioned in the agreement between Iran and the IAEA.

He advised the negotiating countries to take the opportunity, which has come as a result of Iran’s good will, in order to completely lift the sanctions in a practical and verifiable manner to revive the nuclear deal.

Also, the Secretariat of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced in a statement that on May 24, the 3-month deadline for storing data from the IAEA cameras installed in Iran’s nuclear facilities has ended, but it will be extended to give the talks in Vienna a last chance.

The SNSC underlined continued halt of the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol by Iran under the parliament’s ‘Law of Strategic Action to Lift Sanctions and Protect the Interests of the Iranian Nation’, and said that it has made a decision to extend the deadline for one more month.

“Considering the ongoing technical negotiations on the settlement of safeguards issues between Iran and the IAEA, which is in parallel with the Vienna talks, Iran will continue to maintain supervision cameras data for one month from May 24 to give necessary opportunity to the negotiations to progress and yield results.”

Meantime, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at the time that his country will not give the IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear sites beyond the safeguards agreement even if Tehran agrees to extend the two sides’ previous agreement.

“The issue is being discussed at the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and is under final studies, and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) will make an official announcement at the earliest when this process ends,” Khatibzadeh told reporters in a press conference in Tehran.

“It is important to note that this understanding does not provide access to the Agency beyond the safeguards agreement, this is an internal decision of the Islamic Republic of Iran to agree with the agency’s request to maintain its video recording within the framework of the Additional Protocol. No access to the Agency has been granted since the day the Parliament’s law was implemented,” he added.

“If the agreement is extended (between Iran and the IAEA), no access beyond the safeguards agreement will be granted to the Agency,” Khatibzadeh underlined.

He added that if Iran and the Group 4+1 (China, Russia, France and Britain plus Germany) reach an agreement in Vienna, the video recordings of Iran’s nuclear activities can be provided to the IAEA.