New York [US], September 27: Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Friday that his country's cooperation agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be gone if UN sanctions were to return.
The UN Security Council on Friday failed to adopt a resolution that would have extended the 2015 Iran nuclear deal for six months to allow time for diplomacy and avoid a snapback of UN sanctions against Iran.
Britain, France and Germany -- the three European countries of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- claimed that they triggered the snapback mechanism on Aug. 28 by notifying the Security Council of Tehran's "non-performance."
As such, the snapback is set to take effect on Sept. 28, at the end of a 30-day window, in the absence of further Security Council action.
"Well, we have already said that this act by E3 (the three European countries) and the decision by the Security Council would affect Iran's cooperation with the agency," Araghchi told reporters after the Security Council vote.
Iran and the IAEA reached an agreement to resume cooperation in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Sept. 9.
"It is very unfortunate that if everything is activated, then this agreement between Iran and the agency would also be gone and cannot be implemented," Araghchi noted.
In his remarks to the Security Council on Friday, Araghchi said IAEA inspectors are in Iran doing their job.
Source: Xinhua
