International Atomic Energy Agency Again Confirms Iran's Compliance with JCPOA

A recent report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that Iran has remained compliant with the main restrictions imposed on its nuclear program under the JCPOA agreement. Reuters reported on Thursday, February 22, that it has seen a copy of the quarterly report from UN nuclear monitors regarding this matter. According to the report, Tehran's activities during this period have not posed any issues regarding enriched uranium and heavy water reserves. Reuters noted that during this time, the level of Iran's uranium enriched to 3.67% has not exceeded the limits set in the JCPOA. The IAEA report also mentioned that Iran has informed the agency in a letter of its intention to launch a nuclear power plant for the maritime industry in the future. The agency has requested further clarification and explanations from the Islamic Republic on this matter and added that if this decision leads to the construction of new nuclear equipment, preliminary information regarding the design of these devices must be provided to the agency. Iran has yet to respond to this request from the agency. The IAEA has confirmed Iran's adherence to its nuclear commitments in all of its reports since the signing of the nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015. Under the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic agreed to halt many of its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting or suspension of international sanctions against Iran. However, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, has been one of the main opponents of this agreement and announced on January 12 that he would extend the suspension of sanctions against Iran under the JCPOA for the last time unless the 'catastrophic flaws' of this agreement are resolved through negotiations within four months. His conditions for continued U.S. participation in the JCPOA include inspections of all Iranian sites requested by international inspectors, guarantees against approaching nuclear weapons, the permanence of the JCPOA, and limitations on Iran's long-range missile program; as Trump stated, long-range missiles and Iran's nuclear weapons program are two 'inseparable issues.' Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, announced on January 27 that joint working groups of the European Union and the U.S. have begun working to address these flaws. Meanwhile, Iranian officials have repeatedly stated that they are not willing to negotiate on this matter and will not accept any changes to the JCPOA. Mohammad Javad Zarif also reacted to the U.S. President's decision on Twitter, stating that the nuclear agreement with Iran is not subject to review or negotiation and that Trump's position 'calls into question a multilateral and robust agreement.' Despite Trump's approval of the extension of the suspension of Iran's nuclear sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department has imposed new sanctions against 14 individuals and entities in Iran, including Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary and a close associate of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The Iranian government has also announced that it will take reciprocal action against these new sanctions but has not disclosed the details. In late October of this year, as part of its new strategy towards Iran, the U.S. also refused to certify Tehran's compliance with the nuclear agreement while simultaneously including the Revolutionary Guard in its sanctions. U.S. officials have stated that the reason for the U.S.'s hardline strategy towards Iran is the 'unreliability' of the Iranian government, but Iran believes that the cancellation of the nuclear agreement will lead to a loss of trust in the U.S. by other countries.