Iran Refuses To Give Nuclear Site Images To UN Watchdog

The announcement by the Speaker of Iran Parliament could further complicate talks between Iran and six major powers on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.

The speaker of Iran's parliament said on Sunday Tehran will never hand over images from inside of some Iranian nuclear sites to the UN nuclear watchdog as a monitoring agreement with the agency had expired, Iranian state media reported. "The agreement has expired ... any of the information recorded will never be given to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the data and images will remain in the possession of Iran," said Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. The announcement could further complicate talks between Iran and six major powers on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal. Three years ago, then US President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran; Iran reacted by violating many of the deal's restrictions on its nuclear programme. A spokesman for parliament's National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee warned that "Iran will also turn off the IAEA cameras if the United States fails to remove all sanctions", the state-run Tehran Times newspaper's website reported.