Blinken: Iran Shutting off Nuke Monitoring Cameras Makes Reaching Deal We ‘Spent a Lot of Time’ with China and Russia on ‘More Difficult’

During an interview aired on Tuesday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Iran turning off cameras monitoring its nuclear activity means that getting back into the Iran nuclear deal, which “we spent a lot of time with our European partners, with China, with Russia even, over the last year” to do “even more difficult than it already is.”

Host Judy Woodruff asked, “Now that they have turned off most of the cameras monitoring their nuclear activity, does that mean the prospects for a deal with Iran over its nuclear program and the U.S. are dead?”

Blinken responded, “It certainly makes it even more difficult than it already is. The fact is, Judy, that we spent a lot of time with our European partners, with China, with Russia even, over the last year seeking to get back into compliance with the so-called JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal. Much of that work on the deal itself has been done.”

He also stated, “What’s happened is that Iran has basically sought to insert extraneous issues into this negotiation that have nothing to do with the JCPOA. It’s also taken actions like the one you cited, in starting to remove cameras from facilities, that would make it increasingly difficult to get back into the JCPOA. Because those cameras are necessary for verifying the agreement. This agreement had probably the most effective and intrusive inspections and monitoring regime of any arms control agreement. If Iran is taking those pieces apart as well, it’s just going to make it more difficult to get back into compliance.”

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