Iran’s FM calls on parliament to consider IAEA Additional Protocol
By Sara Rajabova
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Iran's parliament should consider signing the IAEA Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
He noted that after the entry into force of an agreement signed between Iran and the West, financial and economic sanctions imposed by the European Union would be completely lifted on Iran, Mehr News Agency reported.
The Additional Protocol allows the IAEA to carry out unannounced inspections at nuclear facilities, and it is seen as an important tool to achieve confidence that the country does not conduct any hidden nuclear work.
On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of a nuclear agreement dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in the Austrian capital, Vienna.
Under the JCPOA, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.
Iran and the IAEA also signed a road map for “the clarification of past and present issues” regarding Iran’s nuclear program in Vienna. The deal came on the same day Iran and the P5+1 group of countries reached the nuclear agreement.
The UN nuclear agency confirmed Iran's compliance with its commitments regarding its nuclear program in its most recent update on Iran’s nuclear program on August 27.
The IAEA said Iran has maintained its level of uranium enrichment, nuclear research and development and other activities in line with its declarations to the UN nuclear monitoring body.
However, the world powers are also urging Iran to allow for inspections in Iran’s military sites, a stipulation that is strongly opposed by Iranian public.
Ali Asghar Zare’an, the deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said no inspections of Iran’s military sites are on the agenda of a planned visit by IAEA inspectors to Iran.
He stated that IAEA inspectors are scheduled to arrive in Tehran on Tuesday for talks, IRNA reported.
Zare’an noted that there is no “measure or directive” on inspecting the country’s military sites.
Currently, the JCPOA is under consideration from the U.S. Congress and the Iranian parliament.
The 10th session of the JCPOA Special Commission was held on September 13 in the parliament. The Commission heard Zarif and his deputies Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Majid Takht Ravanchi, and Hassan Qashqavi.
Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, the rapporteur of the special commission, said Zarif’s explanations were satisfactory; the commission received a full account of the mechanisms of sanctions removal, IRIB reported.
Zarif told the meeting that EU sanctions on the banking and financial sectors will be eliminated on the very day of JCPOA implementation, the U.S. primary and secondary sanctionswill be suspended and 8 years later,the U.S. president is mandated to bring the case to Congress for a full removal of sanctions, according to Hosseini.
Iran’s FM also said, in turn, Iran will be mandated to bring to parliament the Additional Protocol for approval.
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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
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