Nuclear agreement
Iran’s president defends domestic nuclear program
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi speaks at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters. photo
© Seth Wenig/AP
After US President Trump canceled the nuclear pact in 2018, Tehran began producing highly enriched uranium. Now President Raisi has defended his country’s nuclear program.
In a nuclear agreement in 2015, Tehran committed itself to drastically restricting the enrichment of uranium and allowing strict IAEA controls. This was intended to prevent the construction of nuclear weapons. In return, many sanctions against Iran were lifted. Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally terminated the agreement in 2018 and imposed new, harsh sanctions. Afterwards, Tehran no longer saw itself bound by the pact.
Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Saturday that some inspectors were no longer allowed to work in Iran. The move followed the announcement by Germany, France and Great Britain on Thursday that they would not lift existing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
Negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal have not made significant progress for more than a year. On Monday, the United States and Iran completed a prisoner swap that has been in preparation for months, which observers say could also pave the way for new rounds of talks. Raisi was also accompanied on his trip to the USA by Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, who leads the nuclear talks for Tehran.