UN nuclear watchdog says Iran implementing nuclear deal, but could do better
IAEA trying to persuade Tehran to go ‘above and beyond’ demands of accord to boost international confidence
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VIENNA, Austria — Iran is still implementing the 2015 nuclear accord it signed with Western powers, according to a report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.
The International Atomic Energy Agency report, seen by AFP Thursday, shows that Iran is abiding by the deal’s key restrictions on its nuclear facilities in return for relief from damaging economic sanctions.
The latest assessment from the IAEA comes just two weeks after US President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal, throwing its future into jeopardy.
The IAEA urged Iran to stick with the accord and even go beyond its legal obligations so as to boost international confidence in Tehran’s commitments.
A senior diplomat at IAEA headquarters said this was not prompted by any lack of co-operation or change of behavior on Iran’s part.
The IAEA is “encouraging [Iran] to go above and beyond the requirements” of the deal in order to boost confidence, the diplomat said, adding that Tehran could, for example, invite inspectors to sites to which they had not demanded access.
Signatories Britain, France, and Germany, plus the European Union, Russia, and China have been trying to salvage the deal after Trump’s decision to withdraw, but Iran has warned that if it suffers as a result of the reintroduction of US economic sanctions, it could walk away from the accord.
The Times of Israel Community.