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By Trend

Iran did not violate the terms of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) with July 27 rocket launch, an expert in nuclear policy and visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels Sinan Ülgen told Trend.

He underlined that the JCPOA contains no direct prohibitions against such testing

“Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, until the date eight years after the JCPOA Adoption Day or until the date on which the IAEA submits a report confirming the Broader Conclusion, whichever is earlier,” Ülgen quoted one of the annexes of the UNSC Resolution 2231 endorsing the nuclear deal.

The wording "called upon" cannot be read in diplomatic terms as an outright prohibition, according to the expert.

“Iran can however be criticized, at most, for defying the spirit of the JCPOA,” he added.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia - plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the agreement, limits were put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic.

The UN Security Council later unanimously endorsed a resolution that effectively turned the JCPOA into international law.

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