Iran remains in compliance with nuclear deal: UN watchdog

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog (IAEA) has said Iran remains in compliance with the limits set on its nuclear programme by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was abandoned by Washington last year.

In a confidential report seen by Reuters news agency on Friday, the IAEA said Tehran has not violated the terms of the agreement, which drastically scaled back the country's nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions.

Since the multinational deal was signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015, the IAEA has regularly certified that Iran was following through with the agreement.

"Not much has changed," Reuters quoted an unidentified senior diplomat as saying on Friday.

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the JCPOA, gradually reimposing US sanctions on various sectors of the Iranian economy.

The European Union, however, has refused to follow in the White House's footsteps, instead vowing to honour the agreement as long as Tehran sticks to its end of the bargain.

To evade sanctions from US financial institutions, Tehran and major European countries are setting up a barter system that does not involve exchanging dollars.

At a US-led, anti-Iran conference in Warsaw last week, Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, urged Europe to ditch the JCPOA and stop doing business with Iran.

That request was swiftly rejected by EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini after the summit.

US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates has also confirmed that Iran is not violating the deal despite Washington's withdrawal.

He said in a report last month that Iran is still in compliance with the restrictions of the nuclear deal despite the US exit.

"We continue to assess that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities we judge necessary to produce a nuclear device," the report said.