Iran nuclear deal collapse would be great loss: IAEA

vienna — Any collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers would be a “great loss”, the head of the UN atomic agency policing the accord said on Monday, alluding to a US threat to pull out of it.

President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from the accord unless Congress and European allies help “fix” it with a follow-up agreement.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, whose agency is verifying Iranian compliance with restrictions on its disputed uranium enrichment work imposed by the deal, has

If america pulls out of the deal ... Iran could resume its 20 per cent uranium enrichment in less than 48 hours Behrouz Kamalvandi, of Iran Atomic Energy Organisation

long called the pact a “net gain” for nuclear verification, since it has provided the IAEA with more thorough oversight of Iran.

But in a speech on Monday to a quarterly meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors, he went further, evoking the possibility of the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), unravelling.

“The JCPOA represents a significant gain for verification,” Amano said, according to a text of his speech published by his agency. “If the JCPOA were to fail, it would be a great loss for nuclear verification and for multilateralism.”

“If America pulls out of the deal ... Iran could resume its 20 per cent uranium enrichment in less than 48 hours,” Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, told Al Alam TV. —