Chairman of the National Security Commission: Europe's Package is Vague

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the Chairman of the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, described the European proposal regarding the JCPOA as 'vague' and stated that this commission will provide a report on this package. On Sunday, July 8, in an interview with ISNA regarding the final statement of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA issued on Friday in Vienna, he said, 'Considering that the details of the proposed package have not yet been mentioned, based on the statement of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA, it can be said... the package includes a series of recommendations that also have two fundamental weaknesses; namely, it lacks timing, quantity, specificity, and necessary guarantees.' The foreign ministers of China, Russia, France, the UK, Germany, and Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, issued a ten-point statement on Friday after a meeting with Iran's foreign minister in Vienna to support the JCPOA and the cooperation frameworks of these countries with Iran. However, the night before this meeting, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, described the European proposal for preserving the JCPOA as 'disappointing' and stated that this package 'contains general commitments at the level of previous EU statements.' This point has been emphasized by the Iranian President in a recent statement published on Saturday, stating, 'European countries have the political will to continue economic cooperation based on the nuclear agreement of the JCPOA; however, achieving this requires taking practical steps and making specific executive decisions.' According to the Iranian President's news site, the German Chancellor responded to Hassan Rouhani by saying that negotiations should continue regarding the details. Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, accusing European countries of stalling over the years, said, 'This statement is full of vagueness and demands for commitments. We are waiting for the details of the proposed package.' This representative stated that the Foreign Ministry will submit its periodic report on the JCPOA to the National Security Commission on July 17, and this commission will also present its report on the JCPOA based on that report. The consequences of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and the European proposal will be among the main topics of the National Security Commission's report, according to Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh. Meanwhile, Ali Khorram, a former Iranian representative at the European office of the United Nations, stated in an interview that the Europeans changed their proposed package at the last moment due to Hassan Rouhani's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz. He said, 'The very threat that Mr. Rouhani mentioned, whether accidentally or intentionally, increased Europe's concerns to the extent that the French Foreign Minister stated that nuclear weapons should never fall into Iran's hands, which could threaten to close the Strait of Hormuz.' This former diplomat added, 'The text that the Europeans had informally provided had many positive points in favor of Iran. However, at the last moment, they changed it. It is said that both China and Russia, as well as the European Union, were influential in this matter.' No official from the Islamic Republic has commented on this yet, and Radio Farda is also unable to independently verify Mr. Khorram's claims. Hassan Rouhani, during his recent trip to Switzerland, stated that if Iran cannot export its oil, no other country can export its oil from the Persian Gulf. These remarks received support from the commanders of the IRGC.