IAEA chief says could not conclude deal to restore cameras at Iran workshop
Though IAEA DG Rafael Grossi said he could not reach a deal with Iran to restore cameras at Karaj workshop, censure unlikely at board meeting this week as parties look to resume nuclear talks Nov. 29
Less than a week before international talks on trying to restore the Iran nuclear deal are due to resume in Vienna after a five month hiatus, the head of the UN atomic watchdog agency said today he was unable to reach an agreement with Iran on restoring cameras at an Iranian centrifuge workshop that Iran has said was damaged in a sabotage attack by Israel in June.
“We could not agree yesterday, in spite of my best efforts,” Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told journalists at a press conference in Vienna today (Nov. 24).
Grossi spoke after traveling to Iran on Monday and holding consultations all day Tuesday (Nov. 23) with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and Iranian Vice President and head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami. Grossi was speaking at a press conference ahead of the IAEA’s board of governors meeting today through Friday, being held virtually due to a new covid-19 lockdown in the host country of Austria.
Grossi had originally been due to address reporters upon his return from Iran last night, but cancelled the briefing, in a gloomy sign that he and the Iranians had not been able to reach a compromise.
“Our negotiations have been inconclusive,” Grossi said today. “We could not finish. I am not giving up on trying to find some understanding. But in terms of what we were discussing yesterday, we could not conclude an agreement.”
Grossi said he would hesitate to get into the details of the unsuccessful talks, saying it could be perceived as a blame game. But he said it was essential that the Agency and Iran reach an agreement.
“I want to restore the monitoring and verification capacities that we need. Restore cameras, service the equipment, all of these things,” the atomic watchdog chief said. “These are very important and I need to do this.”
“The talks were constructive, the talks were correct, the talks were professional,” he said of his consultations in Iran. “But we could not reach an agreement.”
“We must reach an agreement,” Grossi continued, stressing the must. “We must do it.”
Grossi, in prepared remarks to the IAEA board of governors today, said Iran had not honored an agreement he reached with Tehran in September on letting the agency return cameras to the Karaj workshop, which was damaged in a suspected act of sabotage, which Iran has blamed on Israel.
“Contrary to the agreement reached between the Agency and Iran on 12 September 2021, the lack of access to the Karaj workshop has meant that the restoration of surveillance and monitoring at all of Iran’s facilities and locations in relation to the JCPOA could not be completed,” Grossi wrote in his prepared remarks. “This is seriously affecting the Agency’s ability to restore continuity of knowledge at the workshop, which has been widely recognised as essential in relation to a return to the JCPOA.”
Iran last month called on the IAEA and western powers to condemn the suspected sabotage on the Karaj facility, and said the IAEA’s cameras in the workshop had been damaged in the attack.
“The IAEA representatives in both Teheran and Vienna have been informed that this center has been severely damaged, especially the cameras that were installed there,” AEOI chief Eslami was cited by Iran’s IRNA news agency on Oct. 3.
While it was still unclear if members of the IAEA board of governors might move forward with a resolution this week censuring Iran for dragging its feet on letting the IAEA restore cameras at the site, two sources suggested that was unlikely, on the eve of the first talks on trying to restore the Iran nuclear deal limits since June.
“At this point, I think…[they are] concerned about the impact on the Vienna process, and won’t act until the IAEA actually says it can’t maintain continuity of knowledge,” one non-proliferation expert told Diplomatic.
Another Iran expert source said that while the French might push for a censure resolution, he did not think the US was willing to risk derailing the JCPOA talks due to get underway next week.
The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Grossi’s remarks. One US official, speaking not for attribution, said he did not know yet how the US planned to handle the issue at the board meeting this week.
Meantime, Iran’s new top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani held meetings in the UAE today, Emirati media reported.
Bagheri Kani has met UAE diplomatic advisor Anwar Gargash and UAE Minister for State of Foreign Affairs Khalifa Shaheen Almarar, Iran International news reported, citing the Emirati news agency WAMNews.
Indirect talks between the US, Iran, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China are due to resume in Vienna on Nov. 29 on the prospect of the US returning to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump quit in 2018, and on Iran returning to full implementation.
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