Iran rejects IAEA chief's call

Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Friday rejected the UN atomic watchdog chief's suggestion that reviving Iran's nuclear deal after a fresh U.S. administration involves power would require striking a fresh agreement.

Within an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Rafael Grossi, who heads the IAEA that polices Iran's compliance to the 2015 nuclear deal, said there had been too many breaches by Iran for the agreement to simply snap back to place when US President-elect Joe Biden takes office the following month. Biden has said the United States will rejoin the offer "if Iran resumes strict compliance."After President Donald Trump quit the offer in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions, Iran responded by breaching lots of the deal's restrictions. "Presenting any assessment how the commitments are implemented is completely beyond the mandate of the agency and really should be avoided," Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's ambassador to IAEA in Vienna, tweeted. "@iaeaorg played its part during negotiations on the JCPoA."

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, architect of the 2015 nuclear deal with six powers, has repeatedly said Tehran's nuclear steps were reversible if america lifted sanctions and fully respected the pact.