A senior Iranian official said Thursday that Iran will not fully comply with its side of the nuclear agreement until United Nations nuclear inspectors halt their investigation into Tehran's past work on its nuclear program, reports The Washington Examiner.
Under the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 nations and Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency was tasked with determining the "possible military dimensions," or PMDs, of Iran's nuclear program.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano is set to release a new report on Iran's program on Dec. 1, but Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said Thursday that if the report doesn't result in the closure of the investigation into Iran's PMDs, it will walk away from the deal.
"In case Yukiya Amano or the Board of Governors presents their report in such a way that it does not meet the stipulated commitments, the Islamic Republic of Iran will also stop [the implementation of] the JCPOA," Araqchi said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal title of the nuclear agreement, reports Iranian state-owned news outlet Press TV.
Under the nuclear deal, Iran has agreed to scale back its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of crippling international economic sanctions.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in October that until the PMD file is closed and a secure contract is obtained, Iran will not comply with several measures of the nuke deal, including the redesigning of its Arak heavy water reactor, which would prevent it from producing weapons-grade plutonium.
"They know that the condition for implementation of JCPOA is the closing of the PMD issue," Iranian ambassador to the IAEA Reza Najafi said last week in response to a U.S. official who claimed that the PMD case would remain open, according to Fars News Agency.
Najafi cited Article 14 of the nuclear agreement as stipulating that the P5+1 countries must present a resolution to the IAEA Board of Governors on Dec. 15 to close the PMD issue.
Iran's latest threat to stop complying with its end of the deal came the same day that IAEA chief Amano said in Vienna that he is "not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran," and therefore cannot conclude that "all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities," reported The Associated Press.
His comments suggest that Iran has not yet complied with the terms of the agreement, which could mean that the PMD issue will continue long past Dec. 15 and jeopardize the future of the deal, according to the Examiner.
