IAEA to clear up suspicions on Iran’s PMD case

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

The International Atomic Energy Agency will remove the suspicions related to the military aspects of Iran's nuclear program in near future.

Abbas Araqchi, the Islamic Republic’s deputy foreign minister has said IAEA will announce the closure of the investigation into possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear development by mid-December.

Iranian MP, Nozar Shafiei, quoted Araqchi as saying that the IAEA board of governors will present a resolution on December 15 calling for an end to the PMD case.

Araqchi made the remarks during a session of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, according to Shafiei, who is the commission’s spokesman, IRNA news agency reported.

Araqchi told the commission members that after the end of the investigation, Iran will take steps to redesign its Arak heavy water reactor and to eliminate its low enriched uranium stockpile.

Shafiei also quoted Araqchi as saying the U.S. and the EU have thus far fulfilled their commitments regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The historic Iran nuclear deal between Tehran and the P5+1came into effect on October 18. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani instructed the foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization to begin implementation of the JCPOA.

U.S. President Barack Obama also ordered his government to take steps to lift sanctions on Iran. The EU also began preparing to lift trade sanctions against Tehran.

However, sanctions will remain in place until the IAEA confirms that Iran has fulfilled its commitments regarding its nuclear program.

Shafiei noted it is expected that the implementation of the JCPOA will begin within the next two months and sanctions against Iran will be removed, suspended or stopped.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano is also expected to deliver a report to the IAEA board of governors within approximately one month.

Meanwhile, the Iranian parliament members urged the administration to withhold the execution of its commitments under the nuclear agreement until the U.S. and EU sanctions against Tehran are declared null and void.

In a letter to Rouhani on Sunday, 213 lawmakers said no practical measure should be taken with regard to the implementation of JCPOA before Obama and the European Union officially declare the lifting of all financial and economic sanctions against Tehran.

They called on the government to set up a “powerful, informed and astute” committee to supervise the JCPOA implementation.

On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of the JCPOA on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

Under the agreement, Iran will accept restrictions on its nuclear program in return for removal of sanctions imposed on Tehran by the U.S. and the EU.