Iran initiates probe to determine if IAEA cameras assisted attack on nuclear facility

Iran has said that it was probing the possibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) cameras playing a part in an alleged attack on its nuclear facility in Karaj. 

On Friday, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mohsen Baharvand, addressed a press briefing wherein he said that some cameras at Iran's Karaj facility were damaged during a sabotage attack earlier this year. He added that a team of experts were currently investigating if those cameras played any role in assisting the attackers.

In June, a drone attacked the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, or TESA, in the city of Karaj, northwest of capital, Tehran. While the Jewish regime blatantly denied any involvement in the attack, Tehran accused Israeli Secret Service, Mossad, of conducting the attack. At a later press conference, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi hinted at a possible Israeli involvement in the annihilation.

It should be mentioned here that earlier this year, the UN Nuclear Agency, IAEA, said that Mossad had obliterated some of their equipment at the Iranian Nuclear Facility. 

'We've asked IAEA to wait': Ambassador Mohsen Baharvand

Bharvand said that Tehran had asked the IAEA to wait till the time it becomes clear if the cameras were involved or not. “We just asked IAEA to wait for a time for that investigation to be over,” Baharvand told reporters.

In November, IAEA director General Grossi had “categorically” dismissed the idea that the agency’s camera played any kind of role in aiding a “third party” in conducting the attacks.

Notably, the development comes at a time the seventh round of talks on the Joint Comprehensive  Plan of Action (JCPOA), popularly dubbed the Iran Nuclear Deal, resume.

In 2015, P5+1 nations signed the JCPOA allowing Iran relief from an arms embargo on the condition that Tehran scale down its uranium enrichment programme. However, in 2018, then US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal. Joe Biden after assuming office as US President had vowed to revive the deal but clarified that it would happen only after Tehran comes into full compliance with the JCPOA's terms. 

(Image: AP)