TEHRAN – The head of the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog said Iran has agreed to extend UN inspectors’ access to its nuclear sites for three months.
The hastily brokered agreement will give International Atomic Energy Agency officials less access and end their right to make snap inspections.
Iran is changing its access policy on Tuesday because the United States (US) has not lifted the sanctions imposed since Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal.
The then-Trump administration re-imposed crippling sanctions on Iran, and Tehran retaliated by resuming nuclear activity barred under the agreement signed with six world powers in 2015.
Iran said it will not reverse the measures unless the US fully complies with the 2015 deal – but US President Joe Biden has said Iran must do so first.
The crisis over Iran’s nuclear program has been on the international agenda for almost 20 years. Iran said its atomic program is for peaceful purposes, while the US and others suspected that Iran is secretly seeking the capability to develop nuclear weapons.(BBC)
