Yukiya Amano, the head of UN nuclear watchdog, said on Monday that Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Amano made his assessment in a regular update to the IAEA’s board of governors, confirming a confidential report distributed to member states last month, AP reported.

He said, “Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.”

Amano added that “it is essential that Iran continues to fully implement those commitments.”

The UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed Iran’s compliance to the JCPOA for 14 times since the deal went into force in January 2016. The deal was signed in July 2015 in Vienna between Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China) plus Germany.

Despite repeated confirmations by the IAEA, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and ordered reimposition of sanctions against Iran.

On January 31, France, Germany and Britain announced the creation of INSTEX, a special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating legitimate trade between European economic operators and Iran.

The European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said INSTEX will support legitimate European trade with Iran.

It added that INSTEX will function under the highest international standards with regards to anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and EU and UN sanctions compliance.

Russia and China have also remained publicly committed to the existing accord.

NA/PA