Iran Says IAEA Censure Resolution Shelved Thanks to ‘Intensive Diplomatic Efforts’

“Today’s development can maintain the path of diplomacy opened by Iran and the IAEA, and prepare the grounds for the full implementation of commitments by all parties to the JCPOA,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Thursday.

“Iran hopes the parties involved in the JCPOA would be able to tap into this opportunity, and guarantee the full implementation of the JCPOA by everyone through serious cooperation,” he added.

Britain, France and Germany scrapped the US-backed plan for the UN nuclear watchdog’s board to criticise Iran for scaling back cooperation with the agency, diplomats have said.

Three diplomats, who follow the IAEA closely, said on Thursday the so-called E3 had scrapped their plan for a resolution.

“Cooler heads are prevailing,” said one diplomat from a country on the board that had been skeptical about the proposed resolution.

Other countries had expressed concern that a resolution would undermine attempts to rescue the deal. Iran had also warned that the resolution will negatively impact its cooperation with the IAEA.

The European powers, all parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, were lobbying for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors to adopt a resolution at this week’s quarterly meeting.

However, Iran bristled at the prospect, threatening to end a recent agreement with the IAEA that limits the impact of its latest moves and enables monitoring of its facilities to continue in a black-box-type arrangement for up to three months.