Iran Scraps Cooperation Deal with UN Nuclear Watchdog: Top Security Official

Iran’s top security official announced on Monday that Tehran has annulled its cooperation agreement with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), signed in September, according to Al-Arabiya.

This move follows statements issued nearly three weeks earlier by Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, who cautioned that his country would scrap the deal — which allowed the IAEA to resume inspections of its nuclear facilities — if European powers decided to reimpose UN sanctions.

On September 28, the E3_ Britain, France, and Germany_ reimposed sanctions on Tehran after they claimed that Iran has violated a 2015 deal that aimed at halting it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran has denied this accusation and said that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

“The agreement has been cancelled,” Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said during his meeting with his Iraqi counterpart in Tehran, according to state media.

The confirmation will mark a setback for the UN’s nuclear watchdog, which has been working to restore ties with Iran following the June strikes by Israel and the United States on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“Of course, if the agency has a proposal, we will review it in the secretariat,” Larijani added.

In 2015, Iran signed a landmark deal with world powers to lift international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities.

However, the accord had long been in disarray after the United States unilaterally withdrew during President Donald Trump’s first term.

In response, Tehran gradually scaled back its own commitments.

Iran and the US held five rounds of nuclear talks before Israel targeted Iranian nuclear facilities on June 13.

However, these talks faced key stumbling blocks such as uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, a step met with utter rejection by European powers which claimed that Tehran is enriching uranium for unpeaceful purposes.

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