A nuclear official voiced optimism on Monday that the UN nuclear agency's board of governors would decide by consensus in its meeting on Tuesday to formally close the agency's probe into Iran's nuclear past, giving a green light for the nuclear deal to roll.
The July 14 pact was negotiated with P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) to settle a 12-year standoff over Iran's nuclear program by subjecting it to temporary constraints and giving Tehran sanctions relief in return.
The International Atomic Energy Agency submitted its report on December 2 containing the findings of its investigation into what it calls possible military dimensions of Tehran's nuclear past for action by the board of governors by the December 15 deadline.
Iran has denied there is a military aspect to its nuclear program, stressing that it exclusively pursued peaceful purposes.
On December 7, P5+1 sent to board members copies of their resolution, prepared in consultation with Tehran, asking the 35-nation board to formally conclude the agency's inquiry.
In its meeting today, the board is to put the resolution to a vote.
"It is predicted that the resolution will be passed unanimously by the board of governors' member countries and past and present issues or the so-called PMD matter will be closed once and for all, clearing the way for implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," the ambassador to the IAEA said, referring to the pact by its official title.
"The JCPOA will go into full force by late December or early January," Reza Najafi was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency on Monday.
Additional Protocol
In a separate development, the spokesperson for Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said based on the action plan, Iran is to continue cooperation with IAEA by voluntarily implementing the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreements, allowing the agency to perform its monitoring role and verify Tehran's compliance with JCPOA terms.
"If we expect the nuclear dossier to be closed … we need to comply with the Additional Protocol," Nozar Shafiei told ICANA.
To receive a "white card" confirming the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities, "we should meet our commitments and implement the Additional Protocol".
