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Iran is also expressing its commitment to diplomacy by officially ending the historic 10-year nuclear deal with Western powers.
Iran said it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear program when a landmark 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, although Tehran reiterated its “commitment to diplomacy”.
As of now, “all provisions (of the 2015 deal), including restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and related mechanisms, are considered to be over,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday, the day the pact expired.
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“Iran strongly expresses its commitment to diplomacy,” he added.
The “termination day” of the agreement was set for exactly 10 years after the adoption of resolution 2231, enshrined by the United Nations Security Council.
Officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement between Iran and China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States involved the lifting of international sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
But Washington unilaterally left the deal in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term and reinstated sanctions. Tehran then began ramping up its nuclear program.
Talks to revive the deal have so far failed, and in August, the UK, Germany and France triggered the process called “snapback”.leading to the reimposition of UN sanctions.
“The day of termination is meaningless because of the snapback,” Arms Control Association expert Kelsey Davenport told the AFP news agency.
Ali Vaez, director of the International Crisis Group’s Iran project, told AFP that while the nuclear deal had been “dead” for years, the snapback “officially buried” the deal and that “its sorry fate continues to cast a shadow over the future.”
Western powers and Israel have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies.
Neither US intelligence nor the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said they had found evidence this year that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons.
Nuclear talks between Iran and world powers are currently at a standstill.
“Iran remains skeptical about the utility of engaging with the United States given its history with President Trump, while Washington is still seeking a maximalist deal,” Vaez told AFP.
On Monday, Trump said he wanted a peace deal with Iran, but stressed the ball was in Tehran’s court.
Tehran has repeatedly said it remains open to diplomacy with the United States, as long as Washington offers guarantees against military action during potential talks.
The US joined Israel to attack Iran during a 12 day war in June, which hit nuclear sites but also killed more than 1,000 Iranians, including hundreds of civilians, and caused billions of dollars in damage.
Angry that the IAEA did not condemn the attacks and accusing the “double standards” agency, President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a law in early July suspending all cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and urging inspectors to leave the country.
For its part, the IAEA described its inability to verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile since the start of the war as “a matter of grave concern.”
The three European powers announced last week that they will seek to restart talks to find a “comprehensive, durable and verifiable agreement”.
Senior Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi said during an interview last week that Tehran “sees no reason to negotiate” with the Europeans, given that they have activated the fallback mechanism.
