Amano in Tehran: Iran has fulfilled its commitments under the JCPOA

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who has traveled to Tehran, states that Iran has fulfilled its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Yukiya Amano, in a press conference broadcast on Sunday, November 7, by Iranian state television, said: "I can announce that Iran's commitments under the JCPOA have been implemented to date." Iran and six world powers, including the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom, along with Germany, reached an agreement in July 2015, under which Tehran agreed to suspend or halt many of its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Under this agreement, the IAEA is responsible for verifying Iran's commitments and their implementation. Mr. Amano has traveled to Tehran while he is expected to submit his ninth report on the implementation of the JCPOA to the Board of Governors and the United Nations Security Council within a month. Meanwhile, the U.S. position regarding the JCPOA has hardened. Despite repeated confirmations by the agency, the United States has accused Iran of violating the "spirit of the JCPOA" due to missile tests and what it calls "destabilizing peace and stability" in the Middle East since Donald Trump's presidency began in January. The U.S. President stated on October 22 that he could not confirm Iran's compliance with this agreement. Mr. Trump also emphasized that the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA is very likely. The U.S. Congress is set to decide within 60 days on reinstating sanctions against Iran. On Sunday, the Director General of the IAEA met and discussed with President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. As reported by Iranian news agencies, Mr. Rouhani told Yukiya Amano that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will never be the first country to withdraw from the JCPOA" and "as long as we can benefit from the interests stated in it, we will remain committed to the JCPOA." He also criticized the U.S. approach to the JCPOA, stating: "A country cannot deal with multilateral and international agreements as it wishes, and the integrity of international regulations and treaties is very important." According to ISNA, Mr. Amano also described the JCPOA as "a very good agreement" and stated: "Today, based on the joint efforts that have been made, we can emphasize that Iran has fulfilled all its commitments under international regulations and the JCPOA." According to the JCPOA, Iran is not allowed to enrich uranium beyond 3.5% and can only have about five thousand active centrifuges. Officials of the Islamic Republic, especially the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, have repeatedly stated that if the JCPOA collapses, Iran can return to the pre-agreement era within a few days. Ali Akbar Salehi reiterated this on Sunday, saying: "If the other side violates the agreement, we can start 20% enrichment at Fordow within four days." Before Yukiya Amano's trip to Tehran, 13 Republican senators on Thursday, November 4, wrote a letter to Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, calling for the IAEA to inspect Iran's military facilities and to intensify verification of Iran's commitments under the nuclear agreement with the six world powers, the JCPOA. David Perdue, a Republican senator from Georgia, published the text of this letter on Friday, November 5. The signatories of this letter expressed their concerns about the current state of inspections and verification of the JCPOA being carried out by the IAEA. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, David Perdue, Mike Lee, John Barrasso, and Johnny Isakson are among the signatories of this letter. Part of this letter states: At the time of announcing the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (JCPOA), President Obama promised that under this agreement, inspectors would be able to access any suspicious location whenever they wished. The authors of this letter emphasized, however, that in practice, it seems that this is not happening. Recently, Iranian military officials have stated that they will not allow inspections of military facilities. These senators emphasized: We believe that without inspections of Iran's military facilities, the IAEA cannot reach a reliable conclusion regarding the verification of Iran's commitments under Annex T of the nuclear agreement. The signatories of this letter urged the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to emphasize the necessity of pursuing this part of the nuclear agreement. Annex T refers to activities that could contribute to the design and development of a nuclear explosive device.