Gulf News

Iran clashes with US at IAEA over nuclear deal

-

Top energy officials from the US and Iran clashed yesterday with warnings that internatio­nal peace is at risk as America’s sanctions noose tightens on the Islamic Republic.

The showdown took place at the Internatio­nal Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, where hundreds of diplomats gathered for the nuclear watchdog’s annual meeting.

IAEA inspectors are charged with monitoring the landmark nuclear accord between Iran and world powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned in May.

“Let me be very clear about the negative consequenc­es of this reckless act,” said Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, a key negotiator of the July 2015 accord. “This ominous move is doomed to have serious repercussi­ons for regional and internatio­nal peace and security.”

With less than seven weeks before the US reimposes sanctions against Iranian oil exports, all sides are jockeying to win allegiance­s among allies and trading partners. While the other parties to the nuclear deal — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom — continue to stick by the accord, their commitment has done little to convince companies to continue doing business with Tehran’s government.

In a message delivered by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Trump told the IAEA delegates that Iran must be “permanentl­y denied” any pathway to developing nuclear weapons, a remark that suggested Washington doesn’t want Iran to be able to maintain even the token enrichment capacity allowed under the deal.

“The JCPOA was a flawed deal that failed to address continued Iranian misconduct,” Perry said. The United States says that Iranian interferen­ce from Yemen to Syria is responsibl­e for helping to destabilis­e the Middle East.

The IAEA has warned of higher oil prices as Iranian supply losses deepen heading into November.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates