New IAEA Report Confirms Iran's Compliance with JCPOA Commitments

The quarterly report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), published on Monday, November 21, states that Iran has adhered to its commitments under the nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with world powers. The agency also notes that several instances of Iran's compliance were verified just before the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions. The report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters and the Associated Press, specifies that Iran has pursued its low-enriched uranium stockpile and enrichment levels within the framework outlined by the JCPOA. Iran's low-enriched uranium stockpile was verified on November 4, one day before the return of U.S. sanctions. The report indicates that the amount of heavy water produced by Iran, which is also limited under the JCPOA, was examined on November 3. Yukiya Amano, the IAEA Director General, confirmed in his report that the UN nuclear watchdog has been able to access all sites in Iran that were necessary to visit. The 'failure of the European Union' to establish a special trade mechanism with Iran coincides with the return of sanctions. This is the thirteenth report from the agency since the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers was reached in July 2015. Donald Trump, the President of the United States, who has been a staunch opponent of the JCPOA, has always referred to this agreement as 'the worst deal' that Washington has signed. He eventually withdrew from the agreement on May 8 and reinstated two rounds of U.S. sanctions against Tehran that had been suspended as a result of the JCPOA. However, other countries involved in the agreement, including Russia, China, France, Germany, and the UK, have stated that they will remain committed to it as long as Iran fulfills its nuclear obligations. In return, Tehran has demanded necessary guarantees regarding the benefits of the JCPOA, and European countries have said they plan to design a special mechanism known as 'SPV' to ensure that trading partners with Iran do not need to use the U.S. financial system. It is still unclear when this mechanism will be implemented. The UK, France, and Germany had previously symbolically announced the launch of this program on November 4. Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, stated on November 18: 'Unfortunately, due to the dominance of the dollar and the U.S. financial system over European institutions, creating a mechanism that does not deal with this dollar dominance and cannot be trapped by U.S. sanctions is not easy.'