TEHRAN, Oct 05: Iran's top diplomat said Sunday that cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog was no longer relevant following the reimposition of international sanctions on the Islamic republic.
"The Cairo agreement is no longer relevant for our cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, referring to a September deal with the UN agency.
The deal had set up a framework to resume cooperation and allow the watchdog to inspect Iranian sites, after Tehran suspended cooperation following Israeli and US strikes on its key nuclear sites in June.
But the agreement lost its significance to Iran as Britain, France, and Germany -- signatories to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal -- triggered the return of the UN sanctions over Tehran's non-compliance.
Tehran had threatened to halt cooperation with the agency if they sought to reimpose the sanctions.
"The three European countries thought they had a leverage in their hands, threatening to implement a snapback," Araghchi said during a meeting with foreign diplomats in Tehran.
"Now they have used this lever and seen the results... the three European countries have definitely diminished their role and almost eliminated the justification for negotiations with them."
He added that the European trio "will have a much smaller role than in the past" in any upcoming diplomacy over Iran's nuclear dossier. "AFP
