The White House is not quite ready to suspend economic sanctions against Iran, its spokesman said Friday, adding that Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal it signed with world powers in July hasn't been verified.
According to The Associated Press (AP), White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Iran is making important progress toward curbing its nuclear program.
He added that it's possible the Islamic Republic has already completed all the necessary steps, but stressed Iran won't get any sanctions relief until the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has independently verified that all steps have been completed.
The U.S. wants to make sure Iran doesn't "cut any corners," Earnest said, according to AP.
An updated IAEA report on Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal is expected shortly, possibly later Friday or over the weekend.
Earnest’s comments came days after American officials said that "implementation day" for the Iran nuclear deal could occur within days.
Those comments came after Iran appeared to be taking steps to comply with the deal, including pouring concrete into the core of its heavy water reactor in Arak and sending a major shipment of low-enriched uranium materials to Russia.
But despite recent positive steps from Iran, there have been causes for concern that it is not complying with the deal. A December 2 report from the IAEA concluded that Iran made a "coordinated" effort to develop nuclear weapons in the past, although the efforts apparently ended at an early stage.
The UN watchdog also recently released a report which determined that Iran had violated the terms of its nuclear deal with the West by increasing its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 460.2 kilograms.
Earlier it was also revealed that Iran had stopped dismantling its centrifuges at the Natanz and Fordow uranium enrichment plants, breaching the nuclear deal that calls for the dismantling.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)