Iran says cooperation with IAEA suspended after European move on UN sanctions

(AFP): Iran’s top security body said on Saturday that action by Britain, France and Germany to reimpose United Nations sanctions will “effectively suspend” its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.

“Despite the foreign ministry’s cooperation with the [International Atomic Energy] Agency and the presentation of plans to resolve the issue, the actions of European countries will effectively suspend the path of cooperation with the agency,” the Supreme National Security Council said in a televised statement.

Britain, France and Germany were among the parties to a 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that gave Iran relief from UN sanctions in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.

The three governments say Iran has reneged on its commitments under the deal which has been effectively moribund since Washington pulled out in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.

The UN Security Council voted on Friday, after European pressure, to reimpose the UN sanctions on Iran.

Russia slammed the vote earlier today and warned of a risk of an “escalation of tensions”.

“The Russian side has repeatedly pointed out the provocative and illegal nature of the actions of the European countries participating in the JCPOA,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“These actions have nothing to do with diplomacy and lead exclusively to a further escalation of tensions surrounding the Iranian nuclear program,” the Russian ministry said.

In August, Moscow warned that the reimposition of sanctions against Iran, its key ally, risked “irreparable consequences”.

Tehran and Moscow have been bolstering political, military and economic ties over the past decade as Russia drifted away from the West.

Relations between the two countries grew even closer after Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine.