Imposing $2.5 Billion Cost on the Country Due to Delay in Implementing the JCPOA

A former member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team announced that the damage from sanctions to Iran is "$100 to $150 million" per day and stated that due to the review of the Vienna nuclear agreement in the parliament and the delay in its implementation, "approximately $2.5 billion" has been imposed on the country. According to ISNA news agency, Cyrus Naseri emphasized on Saturday, October 18, that "it would have been better to put the rejection of the JCPOA to a vote, and there was no need for these costly and meaningless reviews in the parliament." He added that "the JCPOA cannot be rejected, as it places Iran in a disproportionate situation compared to the countries involved in the agreement." Mr. Naseri's statements come while Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, stated on Sunday, October 5, that Iran has "entered the implementation phase of the JCPOA" and will proceed from this phase "if the other party fulfills its commitments properly." Majid Ansari, the parliamentary deputy to the President of Iran, also stated on Friday that "there has not been a significant delay in implementing the JCPOA, and work is progressing according to plan." He emphasized that "the delay in the parliament's approval of the JCPOA is not significant, and a one-week delay does not create issues in the execution process." In another part of his speech, Mr. Naseri described the report of the JCPOA commission in parliament as "political" and "imitative of the U.S. Congress's method" for reviewing the Vienna nuclear agreement. According to Mr. Naseri, the commission's report "contains fundamental analytical errors and has not presented any solutions." Previously, Aladdin Boroujerdi, Mansour Haqiqatpour, Gholamreza Tajgardoon, Masoud Pezeshkian, and Abbasali Mansouri Arani, five representatives of the special JCPOA commission, in a statement on October 12, described the final report of this commission as "one-sided" and emphasized that this report "does not align with national interests" and ignores the positive effects of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Contrary to the criticisms from five members of the JCPOA commission and several other parliament representatives, some appointees of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, including Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper, have defended this report. Kazem Sadighi, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran, also stated on Friday that the commission's report was the result of inviting "all experts and specialists." The controversies regarding the report of the JCPOA commission continue while the plan for "Iran's proportional and reciprocal action in implementing the JCPOA" is on the agenda of the parliament for Sunday. Some members of the Velayat Faction, led by Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament and supporters of this plan, have warned about the potential consequences of a possible abstention by the Principlist faction led by Gholamali Haddad Adel during the review of this plan. Meanwhile, Cyrus Naseri also mentioned regarding the possibility of abstention in the public session reviewing the Vienna nuclear agreement that "it is unlikely that the JCPOA will not pass through the parliament." The JCPOA commission in its report, which was read in the public session of the parliament on October 12, stated that the Vienna nuclear agreement "has fundamental gaps and weaknesses in military and security areas that, if not revised regarding inspections of military, defensive, and security centers and lack of attention during implementation, will create problems for the country." However, Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, said on Saturday that the approval of the Vienna nuclear agreement in the parliament "enhances national security components in the country" and will increase "Iran's geopolitical capabilities in economic, political, and cultural fields." According to Khabar Online, he emphasized that "today, the concept of national security has gone beyond a single-layered and single-dimensional limitation and has added multiple social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental dimensions to its military aspect." Mr. Rabiei mentioned the "formation of a capable economy," "people's hope for post-sanctions conditions," and "increased international standing" of Iran as examples of "enhancing national security components" after the implementation of the Vienna nuclear agreement.