https://arab.news/m6yqs
- Iran has insisted that the US must lift sanctions before it returns to the nuclear deal's nuclear restrictions
- The nuclear deal granted wide-ranging access to the International Atomic Energy Agency to gather information on Iran鈥檚 nuclear activities
DUBAI: Iran said on Monday it will block snap inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog from next week if other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal do not fulfil their obligations, a challenge to US President Joe Biden鈥檚 hope of reviving the accord.
鈥淚f others do not fulfil their obligations by Feb. 21, the government is obliged to suspend the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol,鈥� Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
鈥淚t does not mean ending all inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog...All these steps are reversible if the other party changes its path and honors its obligations,鈥� he said, alluding to the United States.
The Biden administration aims to return the United States to the nuclear deal, which his predecessor Donald Trump abandoned in 2018. Under the deal, Iran agreed to curbs on its uranium enrichment program in return for the lifting of sanctions.
After Trump quit and reimposed sanctions, Iran began violating some limits in the deal. Washington and Tehran now disagree over how best to restore the accord, with both sides demanding the other side act first to return to compliance.
Despite Iran鈥檚 public hard line that Washington must take the first step, several Iranian officials told Reuters last week that the mounting economic pain of US sanctions may push Tehran to be flexible on terms for restoring the nuclear deal.
The nuclear deal granted wide-ranging access to the International Atomic Energy Agency to gather information on Iran鈥檚 nuclear activities. But under a law enacted last year, Iran鈥檚 government is obliged to revoke that access on Feb. 21 if other parties are not complying with the nuclear deal.
Iran has long denied striving to develop nuclear weapons through uranium enrichment, though its intelligence minister said last week persistent Western pressure could push Tehran to fight back like a 鈥渃ornered cat鈥� and seek nuclear weapons.
But Khatibzadeh rejected this, citing a religious decree issued in the early 2000s by the Islamic Republic鈥檚 top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, banning the pursuit of nuclear arms.