Iran: Nuke Agency Must Remove Cameras

(CBS/AP)  Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove surveillance cameras and agency seals from sites and nuclear equipment by the end of next week, the U.N. watchdog agency said Monday.

Iran's demands came two days after the IAEA reported Tehran to the Security Council over its disputed atomic program. The council has the power to impose economic and political sanctions.

In a confidential report to the IAEA's 35-member board, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran also announced a sharp reduction in the number and kind of inspections IAEA experts will be allowed, effective immediately.

The report was dated Monday and made available to The Associated Press.

The moves were expected. Iranian officials had repeatedly warned they would stop honoring the so-called "Additional Protocol" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty — an agreement giving IAEA inspectors greater inspecting authority — if the IAEA board referred their country to the Security Council.

Iran has not walked away from negotiations, but the decision to stop monitoring is making other countries nervous, reports CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

"Iran is turning up the heat by turning off the surveillance," Falk said from the United Nations. "And the increased pressure from Tehran even has the Russians talking about under what conditions the use of force would be warranted."

A diplomat close to the Vienna-based IAEA told the AP that Iran had also made good on another threat — formally setting a date for resuming full-scale work on its uranium enrichment program, which can make either fuel or the nuclear core of warheads.

The diplomat, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the matter was confidential, refused to divulge the date set by Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, in a letter received Monday by ElBaradei.

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