On Saturday, the Iranian parliament warned that the Islamic Republic will expel International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from its nuclear sites if US sanctions against Tehran are not terminated.
US State Secretary Mike Pompeo has called for denouncing on a global level Iran’s recent pledge to expel inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Once again the Iranian regime is using its nuclear programme to extort the international community and threaten regional security”, the US secretary of state argued, berating the Islamic Republic for pursuing a policy of what he described as “nuclear brinksmanship”.
The statement came after Tehran boosted its nuclear programme, producing 20 percent enriched uranium at the Fordow facility, surpassing the 3.67 percent limit imposed by the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The JCPOA was clinched six years ago between the Islamic Republic, China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, the US, Germany, and the EU.
The deal obliged Iran to scale back its nuclear programme and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the agreement’s adoption.
In May 2018, President Donald Trump announced the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA, also reinstating crippling economic sanctions against Tehran, something that prompted Iran to start scaling down its JCPOA obligations exactly a year later.
In November 2020, the Islamic Republic passed a law to increase its uranium enrichment and stop UN inspections of its nuclear sites in response to the killing of Iranian nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh earlier that month. At the same time, Iran underscored that it would comply with the 2015 nuclear deal if the US sanctions are lifted.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
