Draft Proposal for Approval of Nuclear Agreement by Representatives in Parliament

As the Iranian nuclear negotiating team departs for New York, a member of parliament announced the drafting of an urgent proposal that, if finally approved, would require the final agreement between Iran and the 1+5 group to also be ratified by the parliament. Meanwhile, Hamid Rasai, a representative from Tehran, reported on the collection of signatures for a question directed at President Hassan Rouhani regarding the reasons for not providing Iran's fact sheet from the Lausanne nuclear agreement. According to Tasnim News Agency, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, announced on Sunday, April 25, that a two-urgent proposal has been prepared which, if finally approved, would mean that 'the agreement between Iran and the 1+5 will have no executive guarantee without ratification in the open session and its validity will depend on the parliament's permission.' He added, 'According to this proposal, a seven-member committee will oversee the nuclear negotiations and report to the parliament's presiding board.' The preparation of this proposal by Iranian parliamentarians comes at a time when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously voted on a proposal that, if finally approved by Congress and signed by the U.S. President, would give Congress the authority to express its opinion on the final agreement with Iran. Despite previous disagreements between the White House and U.S. senators regarding this proposal, the White House announced that President Barack Obama welcomes it considering the changes made. Meanwhile, Abbas Araqchi, a senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, reported on Saturday that he had 'constructive discussions' with U.S. diplomats regarding 'Congress's actions.' Several Iranian parliament members had previously prepared a proposal titled 'Protecting Nuclear Achievements,' which, if finally approved, would halt Iran's nuclear negotiations with the 1+5 group in the event of new sanctions being approved by the U.S. government and Congress. Additionally, 212 parliament members announced that the texts released by Iran and the U.S. regarding the Lausanne nuclear agreement were different and called for the Iranian Foreign Ministry to provide the text of this agreement. In response to these requests, members of Iran's nuclear negotiating team stated that they currently do not intend to provide a written text of the Lausanne agreement but would do so 'if necessary.' Meanwhile, Hamid Rasai, a representative from Tehran, indicated that the collection of signatures for a question directed at the Iranian President regarding the reasons for not providing the fact sheet of the Lausanne agreement shows that 'our follow-ups indicate that the main obstacle to providing details of the nuclear agreements to the public is Mr. Rouhani himself, and the Foreign Minister is not the decision-maker in this regard.' A day before Rasai's remarks, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, stated that many negotiation issues could not be publicly discussed as they might be exploited by some outside, including Israel. According to Salehi, ambiguities regarding the U.S. fact sheet have been somewhat resolved during the three-day negotiations in Vienna. The negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group were held from Wednesday, April 22, for three days in Vienna. Reports indicate that the drafting of the final agreement text regarding Iran's nuclear program has begun. According to Hamid Baidi-Nejad, a member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, negotiations for drafting the comprehensive agreement will resume on Tuesday in New York. Meanwhile, IRNA reported that the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, led by Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, left Tehran for Frankfurt and then New York at 4 a.m. on Sunday. According to this news agency, Zarif will meet in New York with John Kerry, his U.S. counterpart, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy coordinator, and several other ministers from the 1+5 countries. In this context, the 'drafting of the final nuclear agreement text' with Iran continues in New York. The U.S. stated that oversight of the enrichment cycle in Iran will last for 25 years. A new round of nuclear negotiations raises hopes and economic concerns.