SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iran says IAEA chief visit led to 'significant achievement'
Tehran, Feb 22 (AFP) Feb 22, 2021
Iran on Monday hailed as a "significant achievement" the outcome of a visit by the head of the UN nuclear watchdog and a temporary agreement they reached on site inspections.

That deal effectively bought time as the United States, European powers and Tehran try to salvage the 2015 nuclear agreement that has been on the brink of collapse since Donald Trump withdrew from it.

Tehran now demands that Washington scrap punishing sanctions Trump reimposed in 2018, while Washington demands that Iran first return to all its nuclear commitments.

In the standoff, Iran's conservative-dominated parliament has demanded that Iran from Tuesday limit some inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi held last-ditch talks in Tehran on Sunday where the two sides hammered out a temporary technical deal.

They confirmed that Iran will continue to allow access to UN inspectors to its nuclear sites -- but will for three months bar inspections of other, non-nuclear sites.

Grossi said afterwards that a "temporary solution" had been reached with Tehran that enables the IAEA to retain "a necessary degree of monitoring and verification work".

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Monday the talks had "resulted in a very significant diplomatic achievement and a very significant technical achievement".

Khatibzadeh stressed that the outcome was "within the framework of the parliament's binding law".

Iran will temporarily suspend so-called "voluntary transparency measures" -- notably inspections of non-nuclear sites, including military sites suspected of nuclear-related activity.

Tehran will for "three months record and keep the information of some activities and monitoring equipment" at such sites, Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said.

This means that cameras will keep running at those sites, "but no footage will be given to the IAEA," Khatibzadeh said.

If the US sanctions are not lifted within three months, the footage will be deleted, Iran's atomic body has said.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
AI systems proposed to boost launch cadence reliability and traffic management
China debuts Long March 12A reusable rocket in Jiuquan test flight
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4750-4762: See You on the Other Side of the Sun

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Redesigned carbon framework boosts battery safety and power
Molecular catalyst switches between hydrogen and oxygen production
Project Pele microreactor reaches key milestone with first TRISO fuel delivery

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
OPERA satellite data sharpens US crop and water management
Alen Space begins SATMAR satellite validation over Bay of Algeciras
Deep Arctic gas hydrate mounds host ultra deep cold seep ecosystem



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.