IAEA chief travels to Iran as nuclear deal faces uncertain future

Yukiya Amano will hold high-level talks with Iranian officials in Tehran today. The discussions are part of a regular dialogue held between the IAEA and Iran to broadly address the country’s ongoing commitment to the nuclear agreement signed in 2015.

The deal came under strain this month after US President Donald Trump refused to certify Tehran’s compliance with the agreement. The president, who must recertify the agreement every 90 days, accused Iran of committing “multiple violations of the agreement”.

Trump’s allegations have been strongly denied by his European allies, Iran,  the IAEA and his own advisors. While Iran committed a minor violation of the agreement earlier this year– prior to the president’s last certification– there is strong evidence that the country has since been in compliance.

While President Trump has disavowed the deal, he has not scrapped it altogether, opting to leave the agreement’s future in Congress‘ hands. While the House imposed sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program on Thursday , there will likely be little congressional desire to reimpose sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.