The U.S. State Department, expressing doubts about the recent agreement between Iran’s regime and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), warned that if no nuclear deal is ultimately reached, Washington will “hold Tehran accountable.”
An unnamed U.S. State Department spokesperson said in an interview with Al Arabiya news channel on Friday, September 12, that the United States is waiting for details of the agreement between Tehran and the IAEA to be clarified.
The official added that it is essential to reach an agreement under which Iran’s regime abandons its ambition to build nuclear weapons and halts uranium enrichment—an action that would benefit the people of Iran, the region, and the world.
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The official emphasized that if this goal is not achieved, the United States will continue to hold Iran accountable for its actions.
On September 9 in Cairo, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian regime’s foreign minister, reached a new arrangement for continued cooperation between the two sides.
Grossi said this agreement concerns “practical measures for resuming inspections in Iran” and outlines the inspection procedures for the regime’s targeted nuclear facilities.
In a contradictory account, Araghchi declared on September 10 that under this agreement, “no access will be given to IAEA inspectors, except regarding the Bushehr power plant.”
We want concrete steps from Tehran, not symbolic moves
The U.S. State Department official further stressed in the Al Arabiya interview that what is expected from Tehran regarding the nuclear file are “practical and tangible actions,” not “symbolic moves.”
Al Arabiya reported that although it was initially thought the recent Cairo agreement would put Iran’s nuclear case on a path to resolution, the deal left many issues between Tehran and the IAEA unresolved, and Washington is dissatisfied with the outcome.
Citing the remarks of this U.S. official and the recent positions of Donald Trump’s administration, Al Arabiya reported that the coming weeks will play a decisive role in the trajectory of relations between Iran’s regime and the West.
According to this report, this period will either lead to a new agreement between Tehran and Western powers or mark the beginning of a phase of severe economic pressure against Iran—during which the U.S., with Europe’s support, will use broad sanctions to curb the regime’s nuclear program.
On September 10, at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, the European Union and the U.S. warned that Tehran must immediately resume cooperation with the agency.
On August 27, France, the UK, and Germany—the three European members of the JCPOA—announced in a letter to the UN Security Council their decision to begin the process of activating the snapback mechanism and reimposing UN sanctions against Iran’s regime.
Thus, Iran’s regime has only until the end of September to reach an agreement with the West and prevent the return of sanctions.
