Iran officially announced the suspension of the additional protocol, starting today, Tuesday, while Washington confirmed its readiness to engage again in talks with Tehran to return to the nuclear agreement.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the agreement between his country and the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding the inspection process would be within the law approved by the Iranian parliament and would not be considered a violation of it.
The additional protocol provided a wide area of inspection of Iran's nuclear facilities after it was voluntarily implemented by Tehran following the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The Iranian parliament unanimously adopted a decision to refer Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the judiciary due to the recent agreement between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which allows the agency to continue inspections temporarily for a period of 3 months.
A number of deputies interpreted this agreement as a violation of the law to lift penalties and guarantee national interests that the parliament had previously voted on.
The file was also transferred to one of the specialized committees in Parliament for a decision.
For his part, Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei said that uranium enrichment is subject to the country's needs, and that it is possible that the level of uranium enrichment reaches 60%.
He added, during his meeting with members of the Assembly of Experts of the Leadership in Tehran, that it is necessary to implement the Parliament Act to lift the sanctions and carefully guarantee the national interests of the country.
Washington's willingness for the talks
US State Department spokesman Ned Price affirmed Washington’s readiness to re-engage in talks with Iran to return to the nuclear agreement.
Price added that the United States is ready to meet with the Iranians within the framework of the 5 + 1 mechanism to reach a stage in which Iran adheres to its commitments, after which Washington will do the same.
For his part, European Union foreign policy and security official Josep Borrell called for the lifting of sanctions on Iran in order to achieve progress in the nuclear file.
At the conclusion of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers with the participation of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Borrell said that there is a need for the full implementation of the agreement signed in 2015 in a manner that ensures Iran's commitment to the terms of the agreement fully.
The nuclear agreement, which Iran concluded with 6 world powers before Washington withdrew from it in 2018, determines the fissile purity at which Tehran can enrich uranium at 3.67%, which is less than 20% that Iran reached before the agreement was concluded, and much less than 90%. % Needed to build a nuclear weapon.