Alwaght- Iran says it may reconsider cooperation with the UN nuclear agency in case of a US non-compliance with the landmark multilateral nuclear deal.
The announcement was made by Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi in a phone conversation with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano on Monday amid speculations about US President Donald Trump's likely withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the US, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
"If the US does not implement its commitments under the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take decisions that can affect its current cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency," Salehi told Amano.
The US president delivered an anti-Iran speech on October 13, in which he refused to certify that Iran was complying with the terms of the JCPOA, reached under his predecessor, Barack Obama, and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement.
Trump must decide by mid-January whether to continue waiving US sanctions on Iran under the terms of the JCPOA.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned on Monday about possible withdrawal of the US from the landmark nuclear deal.
"The US president has taken many actions over the past year to destroy the JCPOA and it is even possible that the JCPOA would be dismantled in the next few days through measures he seeks to take," the Iranian diplomat said.
Araqchi further expressed Iran's readiness for any scenario vis-à-vis the US decision on remaining committed to the JCPOA or pulling out of it.
Since the JCPOA Implementation, the IAEA has been verifying and monitoring Iran’s compliance with its nuclear-related commitments under the nuclear deal and has consistently verified the Islamic Republic’s compliance.
