The White House wants intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear sites to continue despite President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 agreement on Tehran's atomic program, US officials have told Agence France Presse.
Known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal between Tehran and major world powers forces Iran to open any site to inspectors within 24 days at most and introduced 24-hour remote surveillance at some sites.
The White House is demanding the existing inspection regime, however imperfect, continue under the aegis of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog.
"We expect Iran will continue to implement the Additional Protocol and cooperate with the IAEA whether or not the JCPOA remains in place," one senior administration official told AFP.
A second official confirmed to the news agency on Thursday that Washington still wanted the inspections.
Speaking at a rally in Indiana on Thursday Trump stressed tough inspections were still needed.
"We must be able to go to a site and check that site. We have to be able to go into their military bases to see whether or not they're cheating," he said.
Trump announced on Tuesday that he was pulling out of the deal curbing Iran's nuclear program, reintroducing sanctions on the Iran and those who trade with it.
