IAEA: Tehran yet to decide whether to extend nuclear monitoring deal

(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) VIENNA, June 24 (KUNA) -- The validity of the temporary monitoring and verification agreement between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran, which allows the agency's inspectors to have limited access to Iranian sites, expires today, said the agency Thursday.The IAEA affirmed that Tehran has not yet announced whether it will extend this agreement, which is not a substitute for the additional inspection protocol, but rather a temporary solution until the parties to the nuclear agreement reach a solution to the outstanding issues.Iran has restricted international monitoring and verification activities on its facilities since February 23, after it reduced the level of its commitments to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and raised the level of uranium enrichment to 60 percent in protest against the continuation of US sanctions.According to what the IAEA Director General said in his latest report, the Iranian decision made the agency unable to issue assurances that there are no secret aspects of Iran's nuclear program.The IAEA negotiated this agreement with Iran as a temporary solution after Tehran began implementing a law passed by parliament in December 2020 calling for a moratorium on the implementation of the Additional Inspection Protocol, which allows strict inspections inside Iran's nuclear facilities under the 2015 nuclear deal. (end) amg.aa MENAFN24062021000071011013ID1102340566