Qalibaf: IAEA Will Have No Access to Iran's Nuclear Sites Images

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center, greets lawmakers after being elected as speaker of the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, May 28, 2020. AP
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center, greets lawmakers after being elected as speaker of the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, May 28, 2020. AP
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Qalibaf: IAEA Will Have No Access to Iran's Nuclear Sites Images

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center, greets lawmakers after being elected as speaker of the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, May 28, 2020. AP
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, center, greets lawmakers after being elected as speaker of the parliament, in Tehran, Iran, May 28, 2020. AP

Iranian parliament speaker Baqer Qalibaf said on Sunday that a three-month monitoring deal between Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog had expired as of Saturday, Iran's state TV reported, adding that the agency would no longer access images of nuclear sites.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, is to hold a news conference on Sunday afternoon.

He is in talks with Iran on extending the monitoring arrangement that could affect negotiations between Tehran and six powers in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, the IAEA said.

Under what is called an “Additional Protocol” with Iran, the IAEA “collects and analyzes hundreds of thousands of images captured daily by its sophisticated surveillance cameras,” the agency said in 2017. The agency also said then that it had placed “2,000 tamper-proof seals on nuclear material and equipment.”

"From May 22 and with the end of the three-month agreement, the agency will have no access to data collected by cameras inside the nuclear facilities agreed under the agreement," state TV quoted Qalibaf as saying.

Iran began gradually breaching terms of the pact with world powers after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions.

The pact aims to keep Iran from being able to make nuclear arms, which Tehran says it has never wanted to build.

In February, the watchdog and Iran agreed to keep “necessary” IAEA monitoring and verification activities, although Tehran would reduce cooperation with the agency, including by ending snap inspections.



Netanyahu Says He Will Seek to Dismiss the Head of Israel’s Internal Security Service

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
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Netanyahu Says He Will Seek to Dismiss the Head of Israel’s Internal Security Service

 Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday he will seek to dismiss the head of the country's internal security service this week, following a power struggle over the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu said in a statement he has had “ongoing distrust” with Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, and “this distrust has grown over time.”

The Shin Bet is responsible for monitoring Palestinian armed groups, and recently issued a report accepting responsibility for its failures around the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. But it also criticized Netanyahu, saying failed government policies helped create the climate that led to it.

The tensions boiled over this weekend when Bar’s predecessor, Nadav Argaman, said he would release sensitive information about Netanyahu if it is found that the prime minister had broken the law. Netanyahu accused Argaman of blackmail and filed a police complaint.

The Shin Bet did not have an immediate response to Netanyahu's announcement.

Netanyahu has resisted calls for an official state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack and has tried to blame the failures on the army and security agencies. In recent months, a number of senior security officials, including a defense minister and army chief, have been fired or forced to step down.

Bar had been one of the few remaining senior security officials since the Oct. 7 attack to remain in office.

Netanyahu said removing Bar from his position would help Israel “achieve its war goals and prevent the next disaster.” The prime minister is expected to appoint a loyalist in his place, slowing any momentum for the commission of inquiry.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good-governance civil society group, called Netanyahu’s announcement a “declaration of war on the rule of law” and claimed that he does not have the authority to take the step against Bar because of investigations into his own office.

Netanyahu is also angry that the Shin Bet is investigating members of his staff for their dealings with Qatar. The Shin Bet, and Bar, have been closely involved with the hostage negotiations during the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu recently removed Bar from the negotiating team and replaced him with a loyalist, Cabinet minister Ron Dermer. Israeli media have reported on deep policy differences between the negotiators, who have pushed for a hostage deal, and Netanyahu, who continues to threaten to resume the war.