Iran should immediately resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement Monday.
Iran has decided to remove the IAEA’s surveillance cameras from its nuclear facilities, claiming Israel obtained “sensitive facility data” from them, according to media reports Saturday. The country also barred IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi from visiting the facilities.
Per the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran allowed the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, to access and monitor its nuclear facilities. The first Trump administration withdrew from the deal in 2018, and Tehran has gradually rolled back its commitments — especially so after recent Israeli and American airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
Now, France, Germany and the U.K. are calling on Iranian authorities to reverse course, refrain from ceasing cooperation with the IAEA and ensure the safety of the agency’s personnel.
The three countries also condemned threats against the IAEA’s Grossi. Kayhan, Iran’s hard-line newspaper, recently alleged that Grossi was an Israeli spy and called for his execution. Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, however, said Sunday that Tehran poses no threat to Grossi.
After Israel launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, prompting retaliation from Tehran, European leaders attempted to broker a peace deal and prevent further escalation in the region, but failed. Their calls for a diplomatic solution were ignored by the Trump administration, which instead chose to join in the military strikes against Iran.
Israel and Iran have since agreed on a ceasefire, but negotiations on Iran’s nuclear capabilities are yet to start. Iran could again begin enriching uranium in “a matter of months,” Grossi warned over the weekend.
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