This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Iran has collected and sealed cameras used by the UN atomic watchdog to monitor its nuclear program, the Fars news agency reported on July 26, citing the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
On July 25, Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, said 27 cameras installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would not be reactivated until a deal is reached to restore a 2015 nuclear agreement with global powers.
Iran turned off the surveillance cameras at several nuclear facilities last month in response to a resolution from the IAEA board of governors demanding Iran cooperate with UN inspectors looking into undeclared nuclear sites.
The U.S. withdrawal from the deal in 2018 has led Tehran to gradually break from compliance with the accord.
The IAEA has warned several times that Iran needed only a few more weeks to produce raw material for a nuclear bomb.
Tehran recently suggested it could still return to compliance if a new deal is struck, but it has insisted Washington must move first.
The United States has said that negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal can only conclude if Tehran drops its extraneous demands.
Talks to restore the deal have been stalled since April.
