"I am concerned, but I hope they will not do it", Grossi said Wednesday. "So far the activities have continued, so I hope that we will be able to continue working without any inconvenience. I really hope there will not be any disruption or any interruption".
The IAEA head explained if Iran reconsiders cooperation, it would send a "very serious and very bad message" to the international community.
On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in talks with chief of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell did not rule out the possibility of Tehran reconsidering cooperation with the IAEA if "new circumstances emerge".
Tehran announced on 5 January that it would begin abandoning the remaining portion of commitments under the Iran nuclear deal, specifically on acceptable levels of uranium enrichment. At the same time, Tehran stated that it would continue to cooperate with the IAEA and resume the implementation of nuclear commitments once Washington lifts economic sanctions imposed as part of its so-called 'maximum pressure' policy.
On 14 January, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom released a joint statement threatening to trigger a dispute resolution mechanism within the JCPOA’s framework due to what they called Iran’s failure to meet the commitments of the nuclear deal.
Following this statement, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Ali Larijani, stated that Tehran’s continued cooperation with the IAEA is dependent on the actions of European countries.
The JCPOA was signed between Iran and the so-called P5+1 countries, comprising Russia, China, France, the UK, the US plus Germany. In May 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement and imposed economic sanctions on Iran.
