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Iran violates deal, denies access to site allegedly sabotaged by Israel

Earlier this month, the IAEA and the Iranian government released a statement playing up renewed cooperation.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Iranian authorities barred International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from visiting the Karaj nuclear facility on Sunday.

The Karaj centrifuge site was damaged by a sabotage attack several months ago, which the Islamic Republic blamed on Israel.

According to a bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal, the refusal to allow IAEA inspectors to enter the site marks the first violation of a fresh agreement between Iran and the watchdog group.

Earlier this month, the agency and the Iranian government released a statement playing up renewed cooperation between Iran and the IAEA.

The IAEA released a pointed statement Sunday which seemed to suggest that Iran’s refusal to allow inspectors into Karaj was unacceptable.

“The Director General reiterates that all of the agency’s activities referred to in the joint statement for all identified agency equipment and Iranian facilities and locations are indispensable in order to maintain continuity of knowledge,” IAEA said in a statement.

In mid-September, on the heels of an IAEA report slamming Iran for refusing to cooperate with the nuclear watchdog group, Iranian officials agreed to allow the IAEA to access its monitoring systems at the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites.

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Widely viewed as a stalling move to buy more time for negotiations, the decision to allow IAEA inspections came as the U.S, Germany, France, and the U.K. were gearing up to formally condemn Iran at an IAEA Board of Governors meeting.

IAEA chief Raphael Grossi said that servicing of IAEA monitoring equipment at Iranian sites would begin “within a few days,” and added that Iran had agreed to allow the agency to repair and replace cameras that had been damaged in a recent attack.

While he did not name which site contained damaged monitoring equipment, or who was behind the attack, it’s believed that he was referring to the mysterious June blast at the Karaj nuclear facility near Tehran.