Iran to uphold nuke commitments, if sanctions removed: Iranian atomic chief

Tehran: The Iranian nuclear chief has said that his country would uphold its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal if the anti-Iran sanctions are removed.

Mohammad Eslami, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), made the remarks in an interview with Iran’s Khabaronline news website on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“In the JCPOA, we have the permissible limit of enrichment and the limited level of storage of materials,” Eslami said, adding that however, since “the other party” has not fulfilled its obligations, Iran’s nuclear programme would continue in accordance with a law passed by the Iranian parliament.

Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with world powers in July 2015, agreeing to put some curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the removal of the sanctions on the country. The US, however, pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed its sanctions on Iran, prompting the latter to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.

Eslami was speaking of a counter-sanctions law that Iran approved in December 2020 that enabled it to drop part of its commitments under the 2015 deal.

The talks on the JCPOA’s revival began in April 2021 in Vienna. No breakthrough had been achieved after the latest round of talks in early August.