US fails to leverage IAEA against Iran: Expert

 Daryl G. Kimball

New York, July 13, IRNA – Head of an American Arms Control Organization Daryl G. Kimball said on Saturday that the UN nuclear watchdog is not responsible for addressing differences among signatories to Iran's Deal and that is why the meeting failed to bear fruits.

Iran in the second phased of its reaction to the inaction of European signatories to the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), announced that it would not observe the enrichment limits it had voluntarily accepted under the deal.

The European parties—UK, France and Germany—had pledged to cover the loss inflicted on Iran as a result of the US withdrawal from the deal. But Tehran criticizes the European approach toward the issue as unacceptable, arguing that the economic sanctions the US re-imposed on Iran prevents international companies from doing business with the country, he said. 

Speaking to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Daryl G. Kimball, the executive director of the arms control association, said that the US went to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order "to put pressure on other countries to take a tougher, harder line vis-a-vis Iran".

"But it's important to recognize that it is not IAEA Board of Governors that makes determination regarding how to deal with violations of the JCPOA," he said, adding that it was the point that the Joint Commission of the JCPOA should address.

Washington withdrew from the nuclear deal last year, he said, and it is not able anymore to ask the commission to deal with such issues.

"The best course of action remains for Iran is not to exceed any further limit, and for the United States to reconsider its policy and eventually to find its way back to the JCPOA," he said.

The IAEA that is in charge of monitoring the implementation of the deal has confirmed Iran's commitment to its obligations in 15 consecutive reports.

The American expert also noted that another option for Washington is to make efforts for a "follow-on" agreement to the nuclear deal, "perhaps to negotiate on other issues outside the context of the nuclear dossier".

Iranian officials have repeatedly emphasized that the measures they have taken are reversible only if the US rolls back the sanctions and returns to the deal. They have added that there would be no new nuclear negotiation.

Kimball said that it would be better if Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif explicitly defines for the three European signatories what they are expected to do in order to compensate the sanctions.

EU assumed to invent a financial channel, called Instrument in Support of Trade Exchange (INSTEX) for easing business of companies despite the US sanctions.