Iran to remove 27 surveillance cameras at its nuclear sites

Speaking in a press conference eon Thursday, Rafael Grossi said that Iran has already turned off two surveillance cameras and it has said it will remove 27 surveillance cameras at different nuclear sites including Natanz enrichment facility from today.

He said that the cameras are installed beyond the Safeguards Agreement.

The IAEA chief said that disconnecting the 27 cameras will create serious challenges to the agency's inspection work.

He also noted that he does not know what Iran will do with the recordings of the cameras.

Meanwhile, Grossi said Iran will keep in place as many as 40 cameras.

He added that basically, Iran will remove all the surveillance equipment that were installed beyond the JCPOA agreement.

The top nuclear official also claimed that his recent trip to the Israel had nothing to do with the approval of the resolution at the IAEA board.

Meanwhile. the Reuters reported that Iran has told the IAEA it plans to disconnect 20 IAEA surveillance cameras and other monitoring equipment, citing the agency's chief Rafael Grossi telling its board on Thursday, according to diplomats at the meeting.

Iran's move appeared to be further retaliation for a resolution from the 35-nation IAEA Board of Governors criticising Tehran for failing to explain uranium particles at undeclared sites, which was passed on Wednesday evening.

Grossi also called on Tehran to continue cooperation with Iran and not to get futher away from the nuclear watchdog.

The move by Tehran comes a day after Tehran warned the IAEA board not to side with the sanctioning Western countries to approve the anti-Iran resolution. However, the BoG approved the anti-Iran resolution despite Iran's warnings and extensive cooperation with the agency in recent years.

Iran vowed it will take proportionate measures and will have firm response to the resolution which comes which was drafted by the Western countries.

Iran's permanent representative to the Vienna-based International Organizations said that all the steps Iran have taken away from the JCPOA were according to the NPT and in accordance with its rights and obligations.

Tehran has taken steps away from the nuclear deal known as the remedial measures but it has not left it yet and it has said it will reverse course and will stop remedial measures and will return to full compliance with the JCPOA once the other parties force Washington to lift the sanctions before returning to the JCPOA, from which it withdrew in May 2018.

KI