IAEA showcases new surveillance cameras to be placed at Iran's nuclear site

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), displays a surveillance camera during a press conference in Vienna, Austria, Dec 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

According to an IAEA press release, the cameras, to be installed in the coming days, will replace those that were removed from the Karaj centrifuge component manufacturing workshop earlier this year.

VIENNA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showcased here Friday new surveillance cameras to be placed at the Karaj nuclear facility, a centrifuge component manufacturing workshop in north-central part of Iran.

At a press conference, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the cameras are commercially available, and that they can not "be tampered with" or "be violated by anybody" as they will be "under seals" and that any opening of the cameras would be registered.

Cameras at the nuclear facility were damaged as a consequence of an act of sabotage in June.

While expressing concerns about the knowledge gap during the absence of cameras on site, Grossi said reinstalling the cameras is an important step.

"To mitigate that concern, the first thing is to put the cameras back, that's what we are going to do," he stressed.

Meanwhile, he said that the IAEA would have its "own assessments" by experts who have good knowledge of the equipment and the processes.

"For that (knowledge gap), we have ways to reconcile the facts on the ground with what the Iranians would be telling us," explained Grossi, adding that despite the difficulties, the agency has many methodologies to help put puzzles together.

The IAEA said that it will soon install new surveillance cameras at Iran's Karaj nuclear facility under an agreement signed by Grossi and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami on Wednesday.

According to an IAEA press release, the cameras, to be installed in the coming days, will replace those that were removed from the Karaj centrifuge component manufacturing workshop earlier this year.

The agency and Iran will also "continue to work on remaining outstanding safeguards issues with the aim of resolving them," it added.

The agreement with Iran is an important development for the IAEA's verification and monitoring activities in the country, Grossi said. "It will enable us to resume necessary continuity of knowledge at this facility."

To this end, Iran and the agency will exchange information and assessments, including through meetings of experts.

On Dec. 19, the agency will make available a sample camera and related technical information to Iran for analysis by its relevant security and judiciary officials in the presence of the IAEA inspectors.