Iranian Foreign Ministry Releases JCPOA Commission's Approvals

Rasa - The Iranian foreign ministry released a series of its documents jointly approved with the country's parliament on the nuclear agreement between Tehran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany).

News ID: 426003

Date: 23 December 2016 - 22:31

RNA -  The documents include seven documents in English language and have been put on the Iranian foreign ministry's website.

In a relevant development on Tuesday, Rapporteur of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini announced that his commission and the country's foreign ministry will hold a joint meeting to discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on January 10.

Naqavi Hosseini said that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in an address to the parliament on Monday evening notified the lawmakers of the same.

"We at the foreign ministry have a clear roadmap to follow," he quoted Zarif as saying.

Naqavi Hosseini reiterated that Zarif also said his ministry has also held talks with China and Russia and all the parties involved all of whom are insisting on implementation of the JCPOA.

"We have had continuous talks with other members of the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany) and negotiations are still underway," Zarif told the Iranian parliament, according to the senior Iranian lawmaker.

In relevant remarks on Saturday, Zarif, in a letter to EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini, called for a joint commission on Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to convene to address the US breach of the deal.

Zarif said the Islamic Republic remained committed to all its obligations under the nuclear agreement, known as the JCPOA, which was signed between Iran and the 5+1 Group of powers last year.

He stressed that all sides needed to fulfill their commitments stipulated in the deal as the JCPOA was a multilateral agreement.

He noted that the United States kept reneging on its obligations under the nuclear agreement and called on the EU foreign policy chief to make the necessary preparations for the JCPOA joint commission meeting.

The US Senate voted to extend the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another 10 years on December 1.

The sanctions law, which would authorize the US president to re-impose sanctions on Iran, was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program and its support for anti-Israeli resistance groups.

US President Barack Obama on Wednesday declined to sign the bill renewing the existing sanctions against Iran, but allowed the legislation to become law.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last Tuesday ordered the country's nuclear agency to start plans to produce nuclear fuel and propulsion systems for ships and submarines in response to the violation of the Vienna deal by Washington.

"Considering that the US administration has ignored and delayed compliance with its undertakings under the JCPOA, and given the recent extension of the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) that had already been declared as a violation of the nuclear deal by the Islamic Republic of Iran..., the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is ordered to develop the country's peaceful nuclear program within the framework of the Islamic Republic of Iran's international undertakings as defined in the following missions," President Rouhani said in a letter to AEOI Chief Ali Akbar Salehi.

First, President Rouhani said, the AEOI is required "to plan for designing and building propulsion systems to be used in marine transportation in cooperation with scientific and research centers".

He also asked the Iranian nuclear agency to conduct studies to design "production of fuel for nuclear propulsion systems".

The president also required Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to file a complaint at the commission envisaged in the nuclear deal against the extension of the sanctions and take other necessary legal and international actions.

Rouhani required Zarif to inform him of his actions and their results in one month, while he asked Salehi to report back to him in maximum 3 months.

Nuclear propulsion uses a nuclear power reactor to generate electricity on a vessel. Such systems are best known for their use on strategic nuclear submarines, which allow them to stay submerged for weeks avoiding detection. Nuclear propulsion is also used on some big surface ships like aircraft carriers or icebreakers.

Iranian officials have warned several times in the last few years that the country would embark on enriching uranium for nuclear-fueled vessels if provoked by hostile actions.

In 2012, a senior Iranian Navy commander stressed Iran's high capabilities in designing and manufacturing different types of submarines, and announced the country's move towards manufacturing nuclear-powered submarines.

At the time, Lieutenant Commander of the Navy for Technical Affairs Rear Admiral Abbas Zamini pointed to the navy's plan to manufacture super heavy nuclear-powered submarines, and stated, "Right now, we are at the initial phases of manufacturing atomic submarines."

He noted Iran's astonishing progress in developing and acquiring civilian nuclear technology for various power-generation, agricultural and medical purposes, and said such advancements allow Iran to think of manufacturing nuclear-fueled submarines.

Admiral Zamini further reminded that using nuclear power to fuel submarines is among the civilian uses of the nuclear technology and all countries are, thus, entitled to the right to make such a use.

In July 2012 and before Rouhani rose to power, a senior legislator declared that some parliamentarians were discussing the plan to use nuclear fuel in Iranian vessels, and urged the government of President Ahmadinejad to enrich uranium to the needed levels to be used in such nuclear-powered ships.

"The government should enrich uranium to the needed level to supply fuel for the ships," former member of the parliament's Industries Commission Allahverdi Dehqani told at the time.

"Given the western states' sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, which include an embargo on the supply of fossil fuels to Iranian vessels, the Islamic Republic will replace the fossil fuel with nuclear fuel to counter the sanctions so that Iranian ships would not need refueling for long-distance voyages," he added.

"The government should enrich uranium to the necessary levels to supply fuel for such ships since we cannot cut our trade relations with other countries due to the western sanctions," Dehqani said.

In December 2013, Iranian lawmakers drafted a bill that would require the government to produce 60-percent enriched uranium in line with the requirements of the nation’s civilian nuclear program.

The draft bill was presented after Washington breached the Geneva deal between Iran and the world powers by blacklisting a dozen companies and individuals for evading US sanctions.

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