Tehran: Western powers have backed off from an effort to censure Iran at the global nuclear watchdog as Iran agreed to cooperate with international experts regarding uranium particles found at several of its sites.
Iran’s foreign ministry credited “intense diplomatic efforts” by Tehran and all other participants to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers for stopping a European and American-backed resolution at the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The United States, which unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, had initially backed a plan by Germany, the United Kingdom and France – together known as the E3 – to introduce a resolution to condemn Iran’s reduction of commitments under the deal.
“Today’s development can maintain the path of diplomacy opened by Iran and the agency and create the grounds for the full implementation of commitments by all JCPOA parties,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, referencing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“Iran hopes that JCPOA participants can guarantee the full implementation of the JCPOA by all sides by using this opportunity and through serious cooperation.”
In spite of admitting that former President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of harsh economic sanctions has failed, President Joe Biden has so far refused to lift sanctions, saying Iran must come back to full compliance first.
Iran, which started scaling back commitments one year after Trump left the deal, has in recent months ramped up uranium enrichment and limited IAEA access to its sites to comply with a December law passed by its conservative parliament after a top nuclear scientist was assassinated.
Iran recently rejected a European offer for unofficial talks with the US as a “guest” because it says the US must first lift sanctions since it first left its commitments under the deal, after which Iran will immediately honour all its commitments.
President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday reiterated that stance, advising the US against wasting time on the nuclear deal.
