An international deal with Iran designed to keep the world safe from the spread of atomic weapons has officially ended, with Tehran announcing the termination of the decade-old agreement.
Iran said on Saturday that it was no longer bound by the 2015 agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which international sanctions were lifted in exchange for limitations on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
From now on “all of the provisions [of the 2015 deal], including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the related mechanisms are considered terminated”, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
However, it added that the country “firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy”.
Signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the US, it was hoped the agreement would end the years-long diplomatic standoff and mark the beginning of a new era in relations between Iran and the west.
While the agreement officially expires on Saturday, it has been in disarray for years.
In 2018, in his first term as president, Donald Trump upset his European allies by unilaterally taking the US out of the deal and reinstating sanctions. He disliked the pact, signed by one of his predecessors, Barack Obama, and was discouraged from diplomacy by Iran’s arch-enemy, Israel.
As a result of the US withdrawal Tehran began stepping up its nuclear programme.
European-led talks to resurrect the agreement have failed, and this summer’s bombing raids on Iran by Israel and the US left hopes for a revival at a historic low.
After that 12-day war in June, Iran’s parliament passed a bill to refuse to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear inspectorate.
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