Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog are extending a recently expired monitoring agreement by a month, both sides said on Monday, avoiding a collapse that could have pitched wider talks on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal into crisis.
The move gives breathing space to indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran that resume in Vienna this week. European diplomats had warned that failure to extend the monitoring pact would endanger those talks, which aim to bring the two countries back into full compliance with the 2015 pact.
The reprieve will only be brief, however, since the extension will expire soon after Iran’s June 18 presidential election, which is likely to bring in new interlocutors for the International Atomic Energy Agency and major powers.
“The equipment and the verification and monitoring activities that we agreed (on) will continue as they are now for one month, expiring then on June 24,” IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told a news conference.
He spoke soon…