IAEA says Iran remains committed to JCPOA
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has once again confirmed that Iran is implementing the landmark nuclear agreement it signed with the P5+1 group of countries in 2015.
“Implementation is very important and that requires efforts by all and ... we have a very robust verification tool,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told reporters on the sidelines of a summit in Dubai on Tuesday.
“There is nothing political that will change our implementation," he added.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China plus Germany - started implementing the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - on January 16, 2016.
The deal, which was later enshrined in a legally-binding UN Security Council resolution, rolled back nuclear-related sanctions against Iran, which, in turn, put limits on its nuclear program.
However, on his campaign trail, US President Donald Trump threatened to annul the deal, which he has lambasted as “the worst accord ever negotiated” and “one of the dumbest” ones he has come across.
Washington has taken a tougher stance on Iran since President Trump took office on January 20. It said it had put Tehran "on notice" last month over carrying out a ballistic missile test.
The IAEA chief said the new US administration has so far not contacted the agency, which is monitoring the JCPOA implementation.
“This is a very early stage of the Trump administration but we are very willing to have interaction with them as soon as possible," Amano said.
He added that the UN nuclear agency remains in "constant interaction" with US civil servants.
"Nuclear activities by Iran is [sic] reduced and so this is a net gain. What is important is to continue to implement" the JCPOA, the IAEA director general said.
Also in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Amano said Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium remained below the level required in the nuclear accord.
“The IAEA is functioning as the eyes and ears of the international community," he added.
Iran has denied media reports suggesting that it has agreed to reduce its stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 3.67 percent purity to less than 300 kilograms as part of the JCPOA.
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