Iran may review co-operation with IAEA if EU pressure mounts

DUBAI — Iran will review its co-operation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog should it face “unjust” measures, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said, after EU powers last week triggered a dispute mechanism under Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal.

“We state openly that if the European powers, for any reason, adopt an unfair approach in using the dispute mechanism, we will seriously reconsider our co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” state TV quoted Larijani as saying.

France, Britain and Germany triggered the mechanism in the deal after Tehran continued to distance itself from the pact by decreasing its nuclear commitments in reaction to sanctions reimposed by Washington since the U.S. quit the agreement in 2018.

Tehran announced last week that it would abandon limitations under the deal on enriching uranium, though it said that Iran would continue co-operating with the UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA), which is policing the nuclear pact.

Under the deal between Iran and six major powers, Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The three European nations said they still wanted the 2015 nuclear deal to succeed and were not joining a “maximum pressure” campaign by the United States.

Triggering the mechanism amounts to formally accusing Iran of violating the terms of the deal and could lead eventually to reimposing UN sanctions that were lifted under the pact.