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Iran Signals End to International Inspectors’ Access to Imagery of Nuclear Sites

SHUT OUT

In a pressure move, Iran’s parliament speaker said international inspectors would no longer have access to surveillance images of its 18 nuclear sites.

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Leonhard Foeger via Reuters

In what analysts say is a pressure move, Iran announced Sunday that international experts would no longer have access to surveillance images of its nuclear sites. The announcement came amid high-level negotiations in Venice to try to bring Iran back in line on the 2015 nuclear deal which former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of in 2018, paving the way for Iran’s enrichment program to accelerate. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, made the announcement on state television. “Regarding this, and based on the expiration of the three-month deadline, definitely the International Atomic Energy Agency will not have the right to access images from May 22,” Qalibaf said Sunday. The International Atomic Energy Agency has had access to hundreds of thousands of images captured by surveillance cameras.

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