Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi addresses the IAEA

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This ominous move is doomed to have serious repercussions for regional and international peace and security Ali Akbar Salehi

Hundreds of diplomats gathered at the IAEA’s headquarters in Vienna for the nuclear watchdog’s annual meeting, during which time they discussed the landmark Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA) nuclear accord abandoned by US President Donald Trump in May. Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, a key negotiator of the July 2015 deal, signed between his country and China, France, Russia, UK, US, Germany, as well as the European Union, said: “Let me be very clear about the negative consequences of this reckless act. “This ominous move is doomed to have serious repercussions for regional and international peace and security.” With less than seven weeks before the US reimposes sanctions against Iranian oil exports, all sides are jockeying to win allegiances among allies and trading partners.

The other parties to the nuclear deal – China, France, Germany, Russia and the UK – continue to stick by the accord. However, their commitment has done little to convince companies to continue doing business with Tehran’s government in the face of outright US hostility. In a message delivered by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Mr Trump told the IAEA delegates that Iran must be “permanently denied” any pathway to developing nuclear weapons. His comments were widely seen as an indication of Washington’s opposition to the idea of Iran being able to maintain even the token enrichment capacity allowed under the deal.

US President Donald Trump pulled out of the JPCA deal in May

Mr Perry said: “The JCPOA was a flawed deal that failed to address continued Iranian misconduct.” The US says that Iranian interference from Yemen to Syrian is responsible for helping destabilising the Middle East. Meanwhile the International Energy Agency has warned of higher oil prices as Iranian supply losses deepen heading into November. Iranian officials have also suggested their military may restrict passage through the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most important oil chokepoint – if its tankers aren’t allowed access to world markets.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned a war would be the "mother of all conflicts"

Saudi Arabia has already suspended exports along another busy sea passage, the Bab al-Mandeb, after a rocket attack on two of its oil tankers by Houthi rebels in July in a stark indication of heightened tensions in the region. In the same month, Mr Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traded verbal blows, with the the former angrily warning his opposite number would face “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before” if it persisted in threatening the US. His outburst was apparently sparked by a speech by Mr Rouhani in which he warned a clash between the two countries would be “the mother of all conflicts” in language reminiscent of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Iran continues to work with Russia and China on upgrading nuclear technologies and installations allowed under the deal, according to Mr Salehi, who said the country will begin to expand its Bushehr atomic power plant from the third quarter of 2019.