TEHRAN — Iran said Saturday that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear program as a landmark, much-maligned 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though Tehran reiterated its “commitment to diplomacy.”

The 2015 deal — pushed by former US president Barak Obama and signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — saw the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

But the pact had already been in tatters after Washington unilaterally withdrew during US President Donald Trump’s first term, with Iran later pulling back from its commitments.

The reimposition last month of UN sanctions at the urging of Britain, France and Germany — collectively known as the “E3” — rendered the accord effectively moot.

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

© The Times of Israel