Sanctions against Tehran are expected to be removed within a month after the UN nuclear agency concludes its consideration of Iran's past nuclear activities by mid-December, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said.
"If everything goes smoothly, we can complete our commitments and see sanctions removed within three to four weeks after Dec. 15," Behrouz Kamalvandi was quoted as telling state TV on Thursday by IRNA.
He said Iran and the IAEA will meet "one week" before the UN body submits its report, but the venue of the meeting has not been decided yet.
Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany) clinched a deal on July 14, which will give Tehran sanctions relief in return for temporary constraints on its nuclear work. The International Atomic Energy Agency is tasked with investigating what it calls possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program and monitoring its commitments under the accord.
A roadmap agreement was signed with the IAEA, in parallel with the larger pact, committing Iran to passing enough data to the UN agency to allow it to prepare a final assessment report on the PMD issue and present it for action by the board of governors by Dec. 15.
Sanctions relief will not take place until the IAEA's probe is closed and Iran has completed measures it officially adopted on Oct. 18 under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official title of the nuclear deal.
Nuclear Measures
Among Iran's measures are the redesign of the Arak heavy water reactor and the shutdown of about two-thirds of centrifuges at Fordo and Natanz nuclear sites.
"Out of the total 19,000 centrifuges, 11,000 are inactive," the spokesperson said. "About 3,000 active centrifuges must be removed."
On Arak commitments, Kamalvandi said two documents have been finalized so far in cooperation with a working group appointed by P5+1.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei wrote a letter to President Hassan Rouhani late last month instructing that a committee be established under the authority of the Supreme National Security Council to oversee the implementation of JCPOA.
According to Kamalvandi, the SNSC was expected to announce the composition of the committee by late Friday. He said two other committees will also monitor various aspects of the action plan.
"The Foreign Ministry's committee provides coordination between economic and technical teams," and an AEOI committee will examine "technical and legal" aspects.
