Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has defended his administration’s deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency after conservatives in parliament called for the judiciary to open a legal case against the president. 

Rouhani said that the deal with the IAEA was “artful” in that it fully implemented parliament’s bill restricting IAEA access without opening Iran to accusations of not cooperating with the nuclear watchdog. He accused anyone “distorting” Iran’s accomplishment in this deal of aiding Iran’s enemies.

On Feb. 23 Iran technically suspended its voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol, which gave the IAEA greater access to Iran’s nuclear program. However, two days prior, Iranian diplomats and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reached a deal in which Iran would retain certain data for up to three months. If sanctions on Iran are removed, Iran will hand the data over to the IAEA. If the sanctions are not removed, Iran will delete it. 

The United States reapplied sanctions on Iran in 2018 when it exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. While the Biden administration campaigned on reentering the deal, it has asked Iran to return to full compliance with the JCPOA before removing sanctions. Tehran has incrementally increased enrichment and taken other measures once the United States exited the deal, but claims that it as permitted to take the steps as part of the text of the JCPOA.