US says doubts over Iran deal remain after meeting nuke watchdog
The United States still has doubts and concerns over the nuclear deal with Iran, the US ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday, after a meeting with atomic officials intended to allay American anxieties about the landmark accord.
Nikki Haley also said the US is determined to ensure the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency has the resources it needs for “robust verification of nuclear-related activities in Iran.”
Haley met behind closed doors in Vienna Wednesday with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano to be briefed on Iran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement, which US President Donald Trump has called into question, drawing threats from Iran of restarting its high-enrichment program.
“We came to Vienna with lots of questions about the Iran Deal. We received many good answers but we still have many doubts and concerns,” Haley wrote on Twitter after the meeting.
In an official statement, Haley said she discussed American concerns about “ensuring Iran strictly adheres to its obligations.”
The IAEA is charged with verifying compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six major powers, including the United States. The pact outlined what Tehran had to do to pull back its nuclear program from the brink of weapons-making capacity in return for the West ending many of the financial, trade and oil sanctions that had battered Iran’s economy.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the deal, but has yet to pull out of it. Iran in response has threatened it can begin enriching weapons-grade uranium in a number of days if the US breaches the accord.
Before the meeting, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to Amano and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini that Haley’s visit was another step by the US “that flies in the face” of the nuclear agreement.
Read More: Times of Israel