UN nuclear watchdog say Iran staying within limits of 2015 deal
In quarterly report, IAEA says its inspectors continue to have access to all sites they must visit despite US withdrawing from pact and reimposing sanctions
VIENNA — Iran is continuing to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal with major powers aimed at preventing Tehran from building atomic weapons in exchange for economic incentives, despite the United States withdrawing from the pact and re-imposing sanctions, the UN nuclear watchdog said Friday.
In a confidential quarterly report distributed to its member states and reviewed by The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran has been abiding with key limitations set in the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
The US pulled out of the deal in May and has been pressuring remaining signatories to abandon it as well.
Every IAEA quarterly report issued since Washington withdrew reported Iran remained in compliance.
In its report, the Vienna-based agency said its inspectors still have access to all sites and locations in Iran they needed to visit.
“Timely and proactive cooperation by Iran in providing such access facilitates implementation of the Additional Protocol and enhances confidence,” the report stated, referring to the procedure detailing safeguards and tools for verification.
It noted that Iran’s stock of heavy water and low-enriched uranium continues to be under the limits set under the 2015 pact.
The other nations involved — Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China, as well as the European Union — have so far shown no inclination of abandoning the agreement. They instead have tried to provide Iran with enough economic incentives to make it work.
Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said last week that without the deal “one thing is clear, the region would be no safer but instead a step closer to an open confrontation, with all of the implications that would have on Europe’s own security.”
However, the EU has warned Tehran over its ballistic missile program and interference in the Syria conflict. With numerous European powers growing increasingly concerned about Tehran’s missile program, meddling in several Middle East conflicts and recent attempted attacks on opposition figures living in the EU, the bloc has urged Iran to mend its ways.
