Vienna - The United States has accused Iran of trying to
"extort" money from the international community by violating the 2015
nuclear accord.
The comments were made by Washington's ambassador to the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a global watchdog that has
been monitoring Iran's nuclear activity under the increasingly
fragile deal.
"There is no credible reason for Iran to expand its nuclear
programme, and there is no way to read this as anything other than a
crude and transparent attempt to extort payments from the
international community," Jackie Wolcott told the agency's 35-nation
board of governors in Vienna.
She was referring to two recent breaches of the deal by Iran: Tehran
is now enriching uranium beyond the agreed level, while also
increasing its stockpile of low-enriched uranium above the agreed
limit.
Such limits were designed to prevent the Islamic Republic from
developing a nuclear bomb, in return for the lifting of sanctions.
President Donald Trump announced the United States' withdrawal from
the Obama-era agreement last year and reimposed sanctions against
Tehran as part of a "maximum pressure" approach.
"Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!" Trump threatened
via Twitter later Wednesday, while also claiming without evidence
that Iran "has long been secretly 'enriching.'"
In Vienna, Wolcott repeated that Washington is "open to negotiation
without preconditions" and called on Tehran to reverse the recent
violations.
"We are offering Iran the possibility of a full normalization of
relations," she said.
However, Iran has refused any such offer to renegotiate the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), as the accord is formally
known.
Despite efforts by European countries to salvage the deal - including
an EU transaction system known as Instex that allows Iran to
circumvent US sanctions and continue doing business with
international partners - Iran announced that it too would partially
withdraw from the accord in May.
The violations by Tehran are intended to compel European partners to
step up efforts to help Iran's sanctions-hit economy or face the
death of the deal, which took years to negotiate.
But Washington is also trying to persuade European allies to be
tougher on Iran. The Trump administration argues the deal did not do
enough to constrain Iran's nuclear and missile programmes or check
Tehran's violent activities in the Middle East.
Germany, France, Britain and the European Union expressed "deep
concern" on Tuesday at Iran's enrichment activities and called on
Tehran to reverse the move "without delay."
At the UN nuclear watchdog's special meeting on Wednesday, called by
the US, representatives were to be briefed by IAEA leader Yukiya
Amano on the latest findings regarding Iran's nuclear programme.
Agency inspectors have access to Iranian facilities and issue
quarterly reports on the programme's status.
No major decisions are expected to be announced following the
meeting.
Tehran said it was glad the IAEA was meeting, describing it as "a
good opportunity for Iran to explain its position and challenge the
parties that have failed to implement the nuclear deal."
"It's black humour on the part of the US to demand a meeting about an
agreement from which they themselves left," Foreign Ministry
spokesman Abbas Mousavi told state news agency IRNA on Wednesday.
Mousavi said Iran wanted to stay in the deal but needed to see the
promised economic benefits. "We are still open for diplomacy - but no
lip service about the atomic deal - instead concrete and practical
solutions."
He said Iran was not open to renegotiating the accord.