Iran Urges Compensation for US JCPOA Violation

Rasa - A senior Iranian nuclear negotiator underlined that the recent approval by the US Congress to extend the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another 10 years was a violation of the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement, and called for measures to compensate for the breach.

News ID: 426436

Date: 10 January 2017 - 22:41

RNA - "The extension of the ISA is a breach of the US obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and must be compensated in an effective way,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday.

He noted that the meeting was called at Iran’s request in order to discuss Washington’s violation of the JCPOA.

Earlier on Tuesday, a team of Iranian foreign policy and nuclear experts comprising Araqchi and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi met with the European Union Foreign Policy Deputy Chief Helga Schmid (Mogherini's deputy) prior to the Joint Commission meeting between Tehran and the six world powers in Vienna on Tuesday.

The meeting lasted for one hour and the two sides are to hold another meeting later in the day before the Joint Commission meeting.

The meetings were aimed to coordinate the topics to be raised by both parties during the Joint meeting.

The meeting will be held in Vienna’s Palais Coburg Hotel where Iran’s senior nuclear negotiators will represent the Islamic Republic and Schmid, will chair the meeting in the Austrian capital later today.

The two sides will discuss Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s letter to Mogherini sent to her earlier in December along with the JCPOA implementation. Zarif’s letter raised concerns about the US Congress’ extension of ISA (Iran Sanctions Act) which John Kerry had, only verbally, pledged to prevent the extension.

The Tuesday meeting will have also a joint statement. Before that, Iran and the US envoys will attend a bilateral meeting. US Department of State will reportedly send Undersecretary Thomas Shanon to the meeting.

The extension of ISA had garnered huge criticism in Tehran and the US was implicated with being the first to undermine JCPOA. The general mentality among the diplomats as well as statesman favored Obama’s vetoing the extension; however, he preferred to not to either sign or veto the Act, which made the act automatically the law.

Iran and the six world powers held several rounds of talks in Geneva, Lausanne and Vienna before striking a final agreement in Vienna on July 14 to end a 13-year-old nuclear standoff.

After the agreement, the UN Security Council unanimously endorsed a draft resolution turning into international law the JCPOA reached between Iran and the G5+1 over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

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