WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Iran has not taken further steps to scale back its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers since it renounced last month all restraints imposed by the agreement, the head of the UN nuclear agency has said.
"After the fifth step, there hasn’t been any follow-up,” said Raphael Grossi on his first official visit to Washington since becoming director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in December. "Of course, they continue to enrich.”
Tehran in July began stockpiling more low-enriched uranium than allowed by the nuclear deal in the first of five steps that it has declared in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to pull the United States out of the accord and reimpose harsh sanctions on the country.
Iran says it would reverse the steps, which have included enriching uranium to a higher level than set in the agreement and operating advanced centrifuges, the machines that purify uranium, if the sanctions were removed.
After Iran last month announced it no longer would observe any of the deal’s restraints, Britain, France and Germany triggered the deal’s dispute mechanism, opening the door to a possible reimposition of international sanctions. Russia and China also are parties to the deal.
Grossi said he discussed Iran’s nuclear program on Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo but declined to elaborate. During a think tank appearance on Wednesday, Grossi said the IAEA continues to monitor the Iranian nuclear program.