Iran claims to be checking new IAEA nuclear site cameras.

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) – After earlier cameras were smashed in an incident Tehran blamed on Israel, Iran announced Sunday that technical assessment of new security cameras for the Karaj nuclear plant has begun.

The new cameras were delivered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to replace ones damaged on June 23 during an Israeli “sabotage” operation, according to Iran.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna announced on Wednesday that they had achieved an agreement to replace the cameras at the TESA nuclear complex in Karaj, west of Tehran, which manufactures centrifuges.

The three requirements specified by Tehran for the reinstallation were mentioned by Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.

On state television, Assad demanded “legal and security inquiries into the sabotage,” as well as the IAEA’s denunciation of the incident and a “technical and security inspection of the cameras” before they are installed.

“Iran’s approval did not come in the form of a new deal, but rather when the three conditions were satisfied,” Kamalvandi noted.

The IAEA was unable to retrieve the camera memory cards that were burned in June, and director general Rafael Grossi expressed “doubts” about a missing camera memory unit on Friday.

In Iran, suspicions have been raised that the June incident was made possible by camera hacking.

Grossi, on the other hand, disputed such proposal as “absurd,” claiming that the monitors were tamper-proof and that, once placed, they had no way of transmitting data remotely.

Iran has claimed that video from the remaining cameras at Karaj, as well as other locations where IAEA operation has been limited since February, will only be provided to the IAEA if US sanctions are repealed.

One of the themes being discussed in the Vienna negotiations is how and when Iran can receive sanctions relief.

In 2018, former US President Donald Trump withdrew out of the nuclear agreement and reinstated broad sanctions, including a unilateral US embargo on Iran’s oil shipments, with the goal of bringing the US foe to its knees.

The discussions, which attempted to pull the US back into the accord while also requiring Iran to reduce its nuclear activity, began in April of this year but were halted for several months when the Islamic republic elected a new ultraconservative administration.

The discussions were re-started in late November, and European officials warned on Friday that they were “quickly approaching the end of the road.”