JCPOA, IAEA roadmap two-way streets: Iran

Iran says both its recent nuclear agreement with six world powers and a roadmap signed between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) entail reciprocal measures that should be observed “objectively” by both sides.

“As the Islamic Republic of Iran, in realization of its voluntary confidence building measures and practical steps taken, is committed to its undertakings under the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and the roadmap, we likewise expect the IAEA and the P5+1 to reciprocate through impartial and objective conclusion of the ongoing process and removal of the unjust sanctions, respectively,” said Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi during the 59th Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna on Monday.

Salehi hailed the recent nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1, saying the result of the negotiations proved that the Iranian nation will never bow down to economic “sanctions” and “military threats.”

“The agreement opens a horizon to new opportunities and is a step forward by the involved parties to end a contrived and unnecessary crisis that has been deliberately prolonged for more than a decade,” he said.

Salehi also stressed that the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 authorizes Iran to possess “peaceful nuclear technology including full fuel cycle and the right to enrichment, while preserving all its existing nuclear infrastructure,” saying Tehran is determined to further develop peaceful nuclear technology for national needs.

On July 14, Iran and the IAEA signed a roadmap for “the clarification of past and present issues” regarding Tehran’s nuclear program in the Austrian capital city of Vienna. The deal came on the same day Iran and the P5+1 - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - finalized the JCPOA in Vienna.

The UN Security Council on July 20 unanimously endorsed a draft resolution turning the JCPOA into international law. All 15 members of the UN body voted for the draft resolution in New York, setting the stage for the lifting of the Security Council's nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Under the JCPOA, limits will be put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi described as important the establishment of nuclear free zone in the Middle East, saying the Tel Aviv regime “which has not acceded to the NPT (the Non-Proliferation Treaty), is indeed the biggest obstacle in the implementation of this plan and considered to be a serious threat to the region's security.”

The Iranian official also voiced concern over the increasing spread of terrorism in the region, warning of “threats derived from their possible use of radiological dirty weapons.”