Iran nuclear deal expires, talks continue

TEHRAN, Iran (AP):

Iran's hard-line parliament speaker has said a temporary deal between Tehran and international inspectors to preserve surveillance images taken at nuclear sites had ended, escalating tensions amid diplomatic efforts to save the Islamic Republic's atomic accord with world powers.

As fellow hard-liners demanded Iran delete the images, officials delayed an earlier-planned news conference by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. That signalled negotiations between the United Nations agency and Tehran will continue into Sunday night.

The last-minute discussions further underscored the narrowing window for the US and others to reach terms with Iran. The Islamic Republic is already enriching and stockpiling uranium at levels far beyond those allowed by its 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran's hard-line parliament in December approved a bill that would suspend part of UN inspections of its nuclear facilities if European signatories did not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions by February. The IAEA struck a three-month deal with Iran in February to have it hold the surveillance images, with Tehran threatening to delete them afterwards if no deal had been reached.

That three-month deadline expired Friday under the Gregorian calendar. Under the Persian calendar, however, the three-month deadline ends on Monday, May 24.

On Sunday morning during a session of parliament, speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf announced the deal had expired. He said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state, supported the decision to see the deal as void.

COULD BE EXTENDED

"After these three months, the International Atomic Energy Agency definitely won't have the right to access the camera footage or transfer them," he said.

Qalibaf, a member of Iran's top Supreme National Security Council, previously pre-empted another nuclear programme announcement in April as well.

Hours later, however, a website called Nournews that's believed to be close to Iran's Supreme National Security Council quoted an anonymous official suggesting Tehran's deal with the IAEA could be extended "another month."

The nuclear negotiations have been plagued by contradictory, anonymously leaked information coming from Iran. It's likely a sign of the conflict between the administration of the outgoing President Hassan Rouhani, the relatively moderate cleric who clinched the 2015 deal, and the hard-liners now seeking to replace him.

In Vienna, the IAEA had said its Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi would brief journalists Sunday afternoon on Iran. The agency said Sunday night that the briefing would be delayed as consultations between the IAEA and Iran continued.