U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director-general Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday that Iran has not taken more steps away from its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA—with world powers, despite Tehran’s threat to do so last month.
“After the fifth step, there hasn’t been any follow-up. Of course, they continue to enrich [uranium],” said Grossi, who was on his first official visit to Washington since becoming IAEA director-general, according to Reuters. Grossi said he had discussed Iran’s nuclear program with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday.
In July, Tehran began stockpiling more low-enriched uranium than allowed by the terms of the JCPOA, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from the pact and increase sanctions.
Britain, France and Germany triggered the deal’s dispute resolution mechanism last month, which could potentially lead to the reimposition of international sanctions on Iran. In response, Tehran threatened to suspend cooperation with the IAEA.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in remarks broadcast live on Iranian state television on Wednesday that America was a terrorist state and committed terrorist acts, according to Reuters.
Separately, Canada was set to push Iran on Wednesday to hand over the black boxes from the Ukrainian airliner it shot down last month to France for analysis, Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne told reporters.
“We are going to ask that the black boxes be sent to France ... [which] has all the equipment and technical expertise to analyze them. We don’t want there to be any more delays so we would like to see that happen immediately,” said Champagne, according to Reuters.
So far, Tehran has refused to release the black boxes.
