Vienna – Even after the United States pulled out of an International accord to curb Iran’s Nuclear Programme, Tehran has continued to stick to its side of the deal, according to a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which can be used to make nuclear weapons was once again significantly below the 300-kilogramme limit set out in the deal, the quarterly report, seen by dpa on Thursday, said.
As agreed, construction at the planned Arak reactor, which could have produced plutonium for weapons, has remained suspended, the report added.
It said that Iran had allowed access to IAEA inspectors to review key sites.
The nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed in 2015 in Vienna by Iran and five world powers.
It is designed to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear bomb in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The IAEA has found no violations of the deal on Iran’s part since inspections began in January 2016.
The U.S. withdrew from the agreement in May and began reimposing sanctions on Iran at the start of August, with further sanctions on the country’s finance and energy sectors to follow on Nov. 4.
President Donald Trump has been sharply critical of the JCPOA, calling it a “horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.’’ Its critics claim that Iran is likely to continue its nuclear weapons programme once the deal expires.
(dpa/NAN)