Nuclear deal implementation tied to closure of PMD file: diplomat
November 28, 2015 - 0:0
TEHRAN - A senior Iranian diplomat has said the Islamic Republic is resolved to honor its obligations under the nuclear agreement with the 5+1 group, calling on the opposite side to adopt a similar course of action so that the accord could be successfully implemented.
In an interview with Press TV on Friday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht-e Ravanchi who was involved in nuclear talks with great powers, said before the agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), takes effect, efforts should be focused on closing the file on the so-called possible military dimensions (PMD).Under the roadmap signed between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in July, “everything related to PMD will be finished by December 1 … and then everything will be finished by the Board of Governors of the IAEA, so that the whole file related to PMD will be closed,” he said.
The official further noted that after the so-called PMD file is closed, the Islamic Republic will start doing its commitments related to the Arak reactor and shipping out enriched uranium stockpile in exchange for yellow
cake.
Reza Najafi, Iranian envoy to the IAEA said Iran would only fulfill its promises to reconfigure its Arak heavy water reactor and to reduce its enriched uranium stockpile if the PMD file was formally closed at the next IAEA board of governors meeting on Dec.15.
“We're confident that by (Dec. 15), when (Amano) provides the final assessment, the member states would take the right decision on concluding the issue,” Reuters quoted Najafi as saying.
-------We are committed to what we have agreed--------
“As far as Iran is concerned,… we will stick to whatever we have agreed. We will commit doing whatever we have agreed,” Takht-e Ravanchi said, expressing hope that the same procedure will be followed by the other side in connection with “the lifting of sanctions.”
As Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has stressed, Iran “cannot accept anything less than the lifting of sanctions” adopted by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union or the United States, Takht-e Ravanchi noted.
“So, in the implementation, we want to see that all the sanctions related to economic issues will be lifted as of the implementation day,” he added.
The other challenge facing the implementation of the JCPOA is the pressure that those who are not satisfied with the agreement might try to exert on European and Americans not to honor their commitments.
On July 14, Iran and the IAEA signed a roadmap regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear work in the Austrian capital city of Vienna.
As part of the roadmap, the IAEA is required to finish its investigations on Iran’s nuclear activities and submit a report to the agency’s Board of Governors by December 15. Under the agreement, Iran was also required to cooperate with the IAEA and answer the agency’s questions about its nuclear program.
The agreement was reached on the same day Iran and the P5+1 – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – finalized the text of the JCPOA in 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.
----------- NAM backs Iran's nuclear program
Meanwhile, in a statement delivered to the IAEA board, the Non-Aligned Movement once again expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program.
The NAM statement, which was read out by Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, hailed the Islamic Republic’s fulfillment of its commitments under the roadmap agreement.
The movement also said that it expects the IAEA Board of Governors to pass a new resolution canceling all previous resolutions over Iran’s nuclear program.