Iran to allow new memory cards in UN’s nuclear site cameras

Iran agrees to allow international inspectors to install new memory cards into surveillance cameras at its sensitive nuclear sites and to continue filming there, potentially averting a diplomatic showdown this week.

Mohammad Eslami of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announces the development after a meeting held with the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, in Tehran.

Tehran holds all recordings at its sites as negotiations over the US and Iran returning to the 2015 nuclear deal remain stalled in Vienna. Meanwhile, Iran is now enriching small amounts of uranium to its closest-ever levels to weapons-grade purity as its stockpile continues to grow.

A joint statement released by the IAEA and Iran confirmed the understanding, saying only that “the way and the timing are agreed by the two sides.”

“I am glad to say that today were able to have a very constructive result, which has to do with the continuity of the operation of the agency’s equipment here,” Grossi says. It “is indispensable for us to provide the necessary guarantee and information to the IAEA and to the world that everything is in order.”