The July 14 nuclear deal came into effect on the so-called Adoption Day on Sunday, 90 days after the passage of a resolution by the United Nations Security Council to endorse the international pact.
According to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the accord is officially titled, on Adoption Day the US, the EU and Iran were to announce a series of measures to comply with the action plan.
The European Union issued a formal announcement to terminate its sanctions against Iran.
US President Barack Obama announced cancellation of the executive orders authorizing sanctions and cessation of congressional sanctions.
The JCPOA was to be officially adopted with a joint statement released by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Abbas Araqchi, senior nuclear negotiator and head of the Foreign Ministry’s committee for implementation of the JCPOA, said the statement would be issued after the EU and the US made their announcements, Fars News Agency reported on Sunday.
Steps Iran has to take to meet the requirements of the deal include reducing the number of uranium-enrichment centrifuges it has in operation, cutting its enriched uranium stocks and answering UN questions about past nuclear activities the West suspects may have been tied to weapons work.
Iran denies there is a military dimension to its nuclear program, saying it is exclusively for peaceful purposes. EU and US measures to terminate sanctions will not actually take effect until Implementation Day, when the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies that Iran has met its commitments.
Unilateral US sanctions against Iran not tied to its atomic program, such as those related to alleged human rights abuses, will remain even after the nuclear deal is implemented. Senior US officials said the timing of nuclear-related sanctions relief will depend on the speed at which Iran takes the steps needed to enable the UN nuclear watchdog to confirm Tehran’s compliance.
Nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi voiced hope that Tehran will complete its measures and secure the verification of the IAEA in two months, despite estimates of five to six months by US experts.
Elsewhere, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, “That definitely won’t be the case before the end of January.”
“Now the question is whether Iran shows that it can fulfill its commitments,” he was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters in Tehran.
The IAEA in a statement posted on its website said Tehran has said it will begin the provisional implementation of the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement as of Implementation Day, a critical step to the UN agency’s ability to monitor and verify the Islamic Republic’s compliance with its commitments. “The director general of the IAEA [Yukiya Amano] was informed by the Islamic Republic of Iran that, effective on Implementation Day of the JCPOA, Iran will provisionally apply the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement, pending its ratification by the Majlis.”
