Iran says it is no longer restricted by’restrictions’ on its nuclear program.

Iran Nuclear Section – (Special Correspondent / Web Desk) – Iran announced on Saturday that it was no longer bound by nuclear programme limits after a landmark 10-year agreement with world powers expired, as Tehran reiterated its “commitment to diplomacy.”

Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States inked a deal in Vienna in 2015 to relax international sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear development.

However, the accord was already in tatters when Washington unilaterally withdrew during President Donald Trump’s first term, and Iran later backtracked on its pledges.

The reimposition last month of UN sanctions at the urging of three of the deal’s European signatories rendered the accord effectively moot.

From now on, “all of the provisions (of the deal), including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the related mechanisms are considered terminated”, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on the day of the pact’s expiration.

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“Iran firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy,” it added.

Western powers have long accused Iran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons — something it has repeatedly denied, insisting its nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes such as energy production.

The deal’s “termination day” was set for October 18, 2025, exactly 10 years after it was enshrined in the UN’s Security Council resolution 2231.

In exchange for sanctions relief, the pact limited Iran’s uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent and mandated stringent monitoring of its nuclear operations by the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

However, Washington pulled out of the accord in 2018 and reintroduced sanctions, prompting Tehran to accelerate its nuclear development.

According to the IAEA, Iran is the only country without a nuclear weapons program that can enrich uranium to 60 percent.  That is close to the 90 percent threshold for a bomb and well above the level necessary for civilian nuclear usage.

‘Irresponsible actions’

In July, Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA following the war with Israel, with Tehran pointing to the agency’s failure to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities.

The unprecedented bombing campaign by Israel and the retaliation by Iran during the 12-day war derailed ongoing nuclear negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

At the initiative of France, Britain and Germany, widespread UN sanctions against Iran returned into force in late September for the first time in a decade.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a letter addressed to the United Nations on Saturday that the expiration of the 2015 deal renders the sanctions “null and void”.

Britain, France and Germany accuse Iran of not cooperating with the IAEA and would like it to return to negotiations with the United States.

“Iran’s efforts to revive the exchanges (with the IAEA) that led to the agreement in Cairo were also sabotaged by the irresponsible actions of the three European countries,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in Saturday’s statement, referring to a recent framework to resume cooperation.