No JCPOA without Closure of Iran’s PMD Case: Araqchi
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made it clear that any failure to close the so-called PMD (possible military dimensions) case in Tehran’s nuclear program will certainly stifle the implementation of a lasting nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers.
“If the PMD (case) is not closed, and even if there remains a chance of return of the PMD… it would mean that the JCPOA will not move ahead,” Araqchi said in a television talk show on Wednesday night.
He underscored that Iran “will not fulfill its remaining commitments under the JCPOA” (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) if the country’s PMD case remains, even slightly, open at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors.
“The Western sides, members of the (IAEA) Board of Governors, (IAEA Director General Yukiya) Amano and the (Group) 5+1 are well aware that they have to choose between the PMD and the JCPOA,” the top diplomat added.
He also expressed the hope that the UN nuclear watchdog would take an even-handed approach in preparing an upcoming report about the PMD.
Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached a conclusion on a lasting nuclear agreement, the JCPOA, on July 14.
The IAEA has been given the role of verifying Iran’s commitments under the lasting nuclear deal.
The JCPOA was officially adopted on October 18, and is going to take effect within the next few weeks, after the IAEA releases its final report.
