Iran complying with JCPOA commitment despite US sanctions: IAEA

As Reported by Qods News Agency (Qodsna) According to the IAEA's report on Monday, Iran has been complying with the restrictions to its nuclear program laid down in the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as of early November.

Iran has kept its stock of low-enriched uranium and the level to which it refines uranium within the limits set by the JCPOA, the UN nuclear agency said in the report to its member states, obtained by Reuters.

 

"There is nothing that indicates that Iranian cooperation or the Iranian attitude has changed since the 5th of November," an unnamed senior diplomat added.

The quarterly report by the Vienna-based IAEA showed that Iran's reserve of low-enriched uranium remained well below the landmark nuclear deal's 202.8 kg limit at 149.4 kg.

Iran's stock of heavy water, a chemical used as a moderator in a type of nuclear reactor that can produce plutonium, was roughly unchanged at 122.8 tonnes.

The IAEA's report said Iran continued production but 1.7 tonnes were shipped abroad while 1.5 tonnes were used to make medical compounds.

The administration of US President Donald Trump announced the re-imposition of the “toughest” sanctions ever against Iran's banking and energy sectors with the aim of cutting off the country's oil sales and crucial exports. The bans had been lifted under the nuclear deal, signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries -- the US, Britain, France,China and Russia plus Germany.

A first round of American sanctions took effect in August, targeting Iran's access to the US dollar, metals trading, coal, industrial software, and auto sector.

Despite Washington's withdrawal, Iran has not left the deal yet, but stressed that the remaining signatories to the agreement have to work to offset the negative impacts of the US pullout for Iran if they wanted Tehran to remain in it.

The other parties to the JCPOA have repeatedly announced that the deal is working and should stay in place.

Britain, Germany and France have been scrambling to shield companies from the effects of new US sanctions and protect Iranian oil revenues.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Monday that playing a more independent role in the face of US adventurism would benefit all European countries as policies adopted by US President Trump have caused problems for the entire world.

“The behavior of the US president has caused problems not only for Iran, but also for Europeans, and has led to bewildering conditions at international level,” Larijani said.