Abbas Araqchi: The Vienna Nuclear Agreement Must Be Approved or Rejected in Its Entirety

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister expressed ignorance about whether the Vienna nuclear agreement would be reviewed by the Supreme National Security Council or the Islamic Consultative Assembly, but stated that whichever body is responsible in this legal process can only approve or reject the agreement in its entirety, with no possibility for amendments. Abbas Araqchi made these remarks on Tuesday, July 29, in an interview with Iranian state television, saying, "It is not possible to reject or approve part of this agreement or to make amendments to any part of it. It must be either approved or rejected as a whole." According to the senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team, if the entirety of the Vienna agreement is "rejected, we must return to the negotiating table and negotiate it again, and it is not possible for this agreement to be approved with amendments." Before this official's news interview, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2231, which endorsed the nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had previously stated that some aspects of the resolution, especially those related to Iran's military capabilities, violated important red lines of the Islamic Republic and emphasized that Iran would never accept such a resolution. According to the Tasnim News Agency, Jafari added, "Any resolution that contradicts our red lines has no credibility, and we hope the UN Security Council does not waste its time approving such a draft." Fourteen members of parliament also wrote to Hassan Rouhani, stating, "Since the text of the Vienna nuclear agreement has not yet been approved by Iran's legal authorities, even if the Security Council resolution is approved, Iran reserves the right to any reservations and conditions." Despite the hardliners' criticism in Iran of the UN Security Council's draft resolution regarding the Vienna agreement, Araqchi praised the adoption of this resolution, stating, "This resolution is a unique resolution in the history of the UN Security Council." He noted that "one of the most important features of this resolution is that... unlike the six previous Security Council resolutions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, Iran's peaceful activities will no longer be considered a global threat." According to ISNA, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister added, "All structures established regarding sanctions in the Security Council and the committee related to the implementation of sanctions will be eliminated based on this resolution and will no longer be recognized." According to IRNA, Araqchi also announced that Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, is set to present the text of the agreement to the Islamic Consultative Assembly on Tuesday and will speak about it in a public session. Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated in a statement following the adoption of the Security Council resolution that "Iran continues to maintain its position that all sanctions are unjust and illegal." The statement added that Iran will continue to strengthen its defensive capabilities and that "in this context, Iran's military capabilities, including ballistic missiles, are solely for legitimate defense and are not designed for the capability to carry nuclear weapons, and therefore are outside the scope or jurisdiction of the Security Council resolution." The Iranian Foreign Ministry also stated that it will implement the Additional Protocol but with the aim of providing a basis for "broader conclusions that there is no evidence of declared nuclear activity in Iran" and added, "Since there has never been and will never be any nuclear activity in any of the military facilities, the Islamic Republic of Iran is confident that such facilities will not be subject to inspection requests." The provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 state that the International Atomic Energy Agency must confirm the fulfillment of all commitments related to Iran, and "Iran must cooperate with the Agency based on its requests to resolve all remaining important issues." The resolution adds that when Iran takes the main steps to resolve its nuclear program, and the Agency concludes that "all nuclear materials in Iran are in the path of peaceful activities," the seven previous Security Council resolutions related to sanctions against Iran will be lifted. According to the Associated Press, the resolution specifies: "If one of the parties to the nuclear agreement, for example, the United States, concludes that Iran has not fulfilled its commitments, that country can request the Security Council to vote on the continuation of the lifting of UN sanctions (against Tehran). The United States or the other four permanent members of the Security Council - Russia, France, Britain, and China - can veto the continuation of the lifting of sanctions, which means that sanctions will automatically 'snap back' within 30 days."