• IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says Iran has removed virtually all monitoring equipment.
• Iran had threatened reprisal if the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors approved a resolution criticising Tehran
• Iran informed the agency overnight that it planned to withdraw equipment.

VIENNA – Iran inflicted a near-fatal blow to the chances of resurrecting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Thursday, when it began dismantling virtually all of the International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring equipment put under the agreement, according to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi.

Iran had threatened reprisal if the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors approved a resolution authored by the US, France, the UK, and Germany criticising Tehran for failing to explain uranium traces discovered at undeclared sites. Late on Wednesday, the resolution was passed with a landslide majority.

Iran informed the agency overnight that it planned to withdraw equipment, including 27 IAEA cameras, as of Thursday, which is “essentially all” of the additional monitoring equipment deployed under the 2015 deal that goes beyond Iran’s primary duties to the international community.

Grossi believes the IAEA has three to four weeks to restore at least some of the surveillance that is being phased out, or the organisation will lose its ability to piece together Iran’s most vital nuclear activities.

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“I believe that would be a death blow (to resurrecting the agreement),” Grossi added.

IAEA inspectors had removed the IAEA’s cameras from two sites and placed them in storage under IAEA seals, according to a classified IAEA report to member states obtained by Reuters on Thursday evening.

Since March, indirect talks between Iran and the US on renewing the 2015 accord have been stuck.

“Do you believe we’ll back down from our stance if the (IAEA) Board of Governors passes a resolution?” “We will not back down a single step from our principles in the name of God and the great people of Iran,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stated in a speech.

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