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2.0 Politics
2.1 UN watchdog chief ‘sees no new Iran violations of
nuclear deal’
Iran has not taken further steps to violate the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers since it last month renounced all restraints imposed by the agreement, head of UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said late on February 5.
“After the fifth step, there hasn’t been any follow-up,” Raphael Grossi, making his first official visit to Washington since becoming IAEA director general in December, was quoted as saying by Reuters, adding: “Of course, they continue to enrich [uranium].”
Grossi said that on February 4 he discussed Iran’s nuclear programme with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, but declined to elaborate. During a think tank appearance the following day, Grossi said the IAEA continues to monitor the Iranian nuclear programme. Tehran has said IAEA inspectors are still welcome to carry out their inspections despite the escalated disagreements between the deal signatories.
Tehran in July began stockpiling more low-enriched uranium than allowed by the nuclear deal. It was the first of five breaches declared in response to US President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to unilaterally pull the US out of the accord and switch to sanctions that have strangled swathes of Iran’s economy.
The breaches were gradually committed in a campaign aimed at pushing European powers to take meaningful steps to help protect Iran’s trade and economy from the impact of the US sanctions.
After Iran last month declared it would no longer observe any of the deal’s restraints, Britain, France and Germany—who along with Iran, Russia and China are still accord signatories—triggered the deal’s dispute mechanism, opening the way to a possible re-imposition of UN sanctions.
On February 4, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said during a visit to Tehran that Berlin, Paris and London have agreed to extend indefinitely the time limit to resolve their disputes with Iran over the nuclear deal.
The standpoint means that the three accord signatories can, at least for a protracted period, avoid having to refer the matter to the UN Security Council or triggering new sanctions against Iran. It will almost certainly not go down well with the Trump administration—in mid-January, German defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer acknowledged that Trump had threatened to impose a 25% tariff on cars to push France, Germany and the UK to formally initiate proceedings against Iran for violating the nuclear deal. “This expression or threat, as you will, does exist,” she said.
The scenario prompted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to remark: “Appeasement confirmed. E3 sold out remnants of #JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name for the nuclear deal] to avoid
5 IRAN Country Report February 2020 www.intellinews.com
