Yesterday, Thursday, France, Germany and Britain called for a halt to the escalation in the Iranian nuclear file, while Washington warned of a serious nuclear crisis and threatened Tehran with further isolation;
In response, they removed surveillance cameras from one of the nuclear facilities.
Berlin, London and Paris issued a joint statement, requesting "an end to the nuclear escalation and urgent acceptance now of the settlement on the table" since March, to revive the 2015 agreement that is supposed to prevent Iran from building an atomic bomb.
With regard to the proposed settlement, the three countries said in the statement published by the German Foreign Ministry, "We regret that Iran has not yet seized this diplomatic opportunity," and "we call on Iran to do so immediately."
For its part, the United States warned Thursday that Tehran's recent "provocations" in the nuclear file could cause a "serious nuclear crisis" and "further economic and political isolation of Iran."
"We continue to urge Iran to choose the path of diplomacy and de-escalation," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, Iran's initial response" to this text was "not one of lack of cooperation and transparency (...), but on the contrary, of threatening new provocations and lack of transparency," Blinken said.
He warned that "such measures will be counterproductive and will further complicate our efforts" to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
"The only possible outcome of such a situation would be a worsening nuclear crisis and further economic and political isolation of Iran," Blinken added.
For his part, the US envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, said, "We are ready for a reciprocal return to the nuclear agreement if Tehran waived its conditions. There is a way out for Iran from the crisis it caused if it cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency."
Additional actions
On the other hand, the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said that his country will announce other measures in response to the behavior of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He added that Iran had accepted the strict control over its nuclear program, with the aim of stopping the accusations against it.
He reminded the Western powers that "the Israeli entity does not abide by any of the international decisions, and does not allow inspection of its nuclear facilities."
He considered that "the behavior of the International Atomic Energy Agency with Iran is illegal and political."
And US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken believed that the steps taken by Iran would be counterproductive and would further complicate the return to the nuclear agreement.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had earlier condemned Iran's decision to "close 27 cameras" to monitor its nuclear activities, warning of a "fatal blow" to talks on this thorny file if the disruption continued.
Yesterday, Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Iran of a severe blow to the Iranian nuclear agreement, if Tehran did not return the monitoring equipment set by the agency under the agreement to monitor Iran's nuclear activities.
Tehran's removal of this equipment came as part of a series of steps;
In response to a report issued by the agency yesterday, Wednesday, criticizing the lack of "Iranian cooperation."
Remove all equipment
The Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said - in a press conference Thursday - that the Iranian authorities are removing all the additional monitoring equipment that the agency put in place under the 2015 nuclear agreement, adding that there are only 3 or 4 weeks left before it becomes impossible to revive the agreement, but as he put it.
Talks aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement began in April 2021, and made great progress before the stalemate extended to them last March, with points of disagreement remaining between the two main parties: Tehran and Washington.
The agreement between Tehran and the major world powers provides for the abolition of international sanctions imposed on Iran, in return for imposing severe restrictions on its nuclear program, and the International Atomic Energy Agency plays a key role in monitoring Tehran's compliance with these restrictions.
In 2018, the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal under former President Donald Trump, and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran as part of a policy of "maximum pressure".
A year after the US withdrawal, Iran responded by gradually retreating from a number of its basic commitments, most notably the levels of uranium enrichment.
The Director of the Atomic Energy Agency stated during the press conference that he informed the Agency's Board of Governors of Iran's removal of surveillance cameras that were placed in places to observe centrifuges in Iran's nuclear facilities.
little chance
"The chance of restoring continued monitoring of Iran's nuclear activities is very slim," Grossi said.
Diplomats who attended a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors, citing its director, said Iran had told the agency in a letter that it intended to separate 20 IAEA surveillance cameras and other monitoring equipment from its nuclear sites.
According to the organization, the work of surveillance cameras in one of Iran's nuclear facilities has been suspended as of Wednesday, and they are cameras that it said do not fall within Iran's commitments contained in the safeguards agreement, explaining that more than 80% of the cameras covered by the agreement will remain in service.
Reuters reported that it had seen a report submitted by the International Atomic Energy Agency to member states, in which it says that it has verified that Iran has started installing a new set of advanced "IR-6" centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear plant, allowing Tehran to enrich More uranium quickly.
The agency stated that Iran had told it that it wanted to install two additional sets of advanced centrifuges "IR-6" at the Natanz plant.
Iran's ISNA news agency quoted an informed source as saying that Tehran would speed up production of centrifuges.