Iran complying with nuclear agreement, UN watchdog says

VIENNA: Iran has complied with the main restrictions on its nuclear activities imposed by a 2015 deal with major powers, a confidential report by the United Nations atomic watchdog indicated yesterday.

In its second quarterly report since President Donald Trump announced in May the US would quit the accord and reimpose sanctions, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had stayed within the caps on uranium enrichment levels, enriched uranium stocks and other items.

In its last report in May, the IAEA had said Iran could do more to cooperate with inspectors and thereby ‘‘enhance confidence’’, but stopped short of saying the Islamic Republic had given it cause for concern. Yesterday’s report to member states contained similar language.

It said the Viennabased UN nuclear watchdog was able to carry out all socalled complementary access inspections needed to verify Iran’s com pliance with the deal.

‘‘Timely and proactive cooperation by Iran in providing such access facilitates implementation of the Additional Protocol and enhances confidence,’’ said the report, which was distributed to IAEA member states.

‘‘The production rate [of enriched uranium] is constant. There is no change whatsoever,’’ a senior diplomat said.

With the US reimposing its sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the nuclear deal, many diplomats and analysts now doubt the accord will survive despite European Union efforts to counter some of the effects of Trump’s move.

Sticking to the nuclear accord was not the only way forward for Iran, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said yesterday.

‘‘Being the party to still honour the deal in deeds and not just words is not Iran’s only option.’’

French Foreign Minister JeanYves Le Drian said the deal was still holding, despite the US withdrawal.

He urged his fellow ministers, who met in Vienna yesterday to discuss EU policy on Iran, to do more to protect Teheran from US sanctions, calling for ‘‘permanent financial mechanisms that allow Iran to continue to trade’’.

The EU implemented a law last month to shield European companies from the impact of US sanctions on Teheran and has approved aid for the Iranian private sector, although large European companies are pulling out of Iran.

On Thursday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast doubt on the ability of EU countries to save the agreement and said Iran might abandon it.

Le Drian said Iran should be ready to negotiate on its future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in wars in Syria and Yemen.

Those issues were not covered by the 2015 deal and Trump has cited this as a major reason for pulling the US out. — Reuters