Closing the case related to Iran’s nuclear past with the UN nuclear agency is among the commitments major powers made under the historic nuclear deal, the secretary of Supreme National Security Council said.
Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying by IRNA on Sunday that the path toward the full implementation of the deal will not be clear until the IAEA announces that its consideration of Tehran’s past nuclear program has been concluded.
“The closure of past issues is one of the commitments of P5+1” under the pact, Shamkhani said. “If the dossier on past issues is not closed, it will be impossible to put the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [as the deal is officially referred to] into effect.”
The accord was struck with P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany) on July 14 to end a 12-year standoff over Tehran’s nuclear issue.
Alongside the deal, an agreement was signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency outlining a roadmap for the agency’s investigation into what it calls possible military dimensions of Tehran’s past nuclear activities.
Iran denies its nuclear program had any military dimension, saying it is solely for civilian purposes.
The roadmap has set a mid-December deadline for IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano to compile an assessment report on the issue.
The agency’s board of governors will consider the chief’s assessment to decide whether to adopt a resolution closing the PMD file.
Major Powers’ Choice
Shamkhani said P5+1 will have to choose between pursuing the JCPOA and leaving the PMD file open.
He was responding to Amano’s recent remarks that have raised concerns over whether the case could be closed by the target date of December 15.
Amano told a news conference after a meeting of the board of governors on Thursday that his assessment report will not reach a definitive conclusion on the PMD file.
“The report will not be black and white,” the IAEA chief said. “What I can now say is that this is an issue that cannot be answered by ‘yes’ and ‘no’.”
In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani last month, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei charged the SNSC with setting up a committee to supervise the JCPOA implementation.
“The committee has been established and … is holding regular meetings,” Shamkhani said.
MPs’ Visit to Natanz
The Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, which is working in parallel with the SNSC’s committee to monitor the action plan on behalf of the parliament, took the first practical step to perform its task by paying a visit to the Natanz facility on Saturday.
“The visit to the Natanz nuclear site was made in line with a bill requiring the commission to present a report to the Majlis on the process of implementing the JCPOA every six months,” chairman of the commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said in a press conference after the visit.
On October 18, the two sides formally adopted the agreed measures under the deal, which need to be completed before it can go into full force on Implementation Day.
Iran’s commitments include dismantling about two-thirds of 19,000 installed centrifuges at Fordo and Natanz nuclear enrichment sites and redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor.
Boroujerdi said, “Over 9,000 centrifuges are currently active at Natanz. After the closure of the PMD file, the number will be reduced to 5,060 machines [as stipulated in the JCPOA].”
In the letter to Rouhani, Ayatollah Khamenei subjected Iran’s action on its commitments to the settlement of Iran’s nuclear past case.
“As the PMD file has not yet been closed, nothing has been done at Fordo and Arak facilities. Active centrifuges at Natanz have remained intact. However, about 6,000 inactive ones at the site have been removed,” the lawmaker said, ICANA reported.
“We will visit the Fordo site next week. Afterwards, we will pay a visit to the Arak facility.”
