Press TV - The chief inspector of the UN nuclear agency�has stepped down unexpectedly, a few days after US President Donald Trump declared that Washington withdrew from the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with Iran.
A spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency�(IAEA) announced�in a statement on Friday that Tero Varjoranta, a 61-year-old Finn, �has resigned effective 11 May 2018,��without giving more details regarding the reasons behind his sudden departure, adding, however, that the agency�s �safeguards activities will continue to be carried out in a highly professional manner.�
Since October 2013, Varjoranta had been a deputy director general of the atomic agency and head of its Department of Safeguards, which verifies countries� compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The statement added that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano had appointed �Massimo Aparo, acting director, Office for Verification in Iran, as acting deputy director general and head of the Department of Safeguards, effective immediately.�

The spokesperson, however, said the replacement had been made on a temporary basis�and a permanent replacement would be appointed as soon as possible.

Varjoranta�s resignation came three days after Trump�declared�that his country was pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement, known�as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying Washington would not only reinstate the anti-Iran sanctions lifted as part of the deal, but would also �be instituting the highest level of economic� bans against the Islamic Republic.

The JCPOA came out of years of negotiations between Iran on one side and the P5+1 group of countries -- the US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany -- on the other, in July 2015.

Trump made no mention in his Tuesday announcement about any act by Iran that could be interpreted as a violation of the JCPOA�s terms. He only lashed out at the hard-fought deal, saying it had �weak� limits on Tehran�s nuclear program.



A day after Trump�s controversial decision, which triggered international condemnations, the IAEA issued a statement, reiterating that Iran is in full compliance with the terms of the JCPOA. The statement, however, contradicted Trump�s claim and said, �Iran is subject to the world�s most robust nuclear verification regime under the JCPOA, which is a significant verification gain.�

The JCPOA went into effect in January 2016. The IAEA has since confirmed Iran�s full compliance in numerous quarterly reports.

Washington�s five other partners in the deal have already taken turns to denounce Trump�s attack on the multilateral Iran deal, vowing that they would�stick to their commitments under the accord despite the US�withdrawal.

Furthermore, the United Nations and the European Union have warned Washington against any bid to sabotage the deal. They call the JCPOA a pillar of regional and international peace and stability, and reiterate the multilateral pact cannot be simply terminated by a single party.



Iran has already said it would remain in the JCPOA for now, pending negotiations with the other signatories in the coming weeks before making a final decision on its future role in the pact. Tehran had earlier warned that it had prepared several options for responding to US withdrawal.