Iraqchi: We Will Submit Enrichment Program to the Agency in Two to Three Months

Abbas Iraqchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, announced that Iran will present its enrichment program to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the next 2 or 3 months. He explained that 'most countries present a 10-year program, but we will likely present a 15-year program to the Agency, which will produce one million SWU by the end of the program.' According to the news agency 'House of the Nation,' Mr. Iraqchi made this announcement on Sunday, August 8, during a special meeting of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, which lasted four hours and included detailed explanations from Mr. Iraqchi regarding the nuclear agreement. He explained that 'according to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action], our enrichment limitation is about 8 years, after which Iran can operate according to its program without needing approval from the Agency.' A senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team further stated: 'On the other hand, when we start producing IR6 and IR8 in the eighth year, we will not actually need it, as establishing the infrastructure for IR8 machines takes about 2 or 3 years, so we will need 2 to 3 years for mass production. Therefore, during this time, we will stockpile enriched materials, which will reach about 200 centrifuges per year.' 'We are prohibited from constructing new enrichment facilities for 15 years.' Abbas Iraqchi also added: 'Iran is prohibited from constructing new enrichment facilities for 15 years under the JCPOA, and I must say that the country does not need new facilities; the Natanz facilities with IR8 machines will meet our needs.' He further stated that 'the issues raised regarding 20 years and 25 years are not related to limitations but rather to monitoring the production of certain components.' Mr. Iraqchi continued by saying that under the Vienna agreement, there are limitations for Iran on machines beyond IR8 during the mechanical testing and gas injection phases. The enrichment limitation 'was not among the red lines of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.' A senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiating team continued: 'Some have claimed that the limitation on enrichment was among the red lines of the leadership; now where has this issue been among his red lines? The Supreme Leader stated that economic and financial sanctions should be lifted all at once and the rest in a reasonable timeframe, so I prefer that the issues be examined in a technical manner.' Regarding the reversibility of sanctions, China and Russia 'have agreed to waive their veto rights.' Mr. Iraqchi, in response to a question about the conditions for the reversibility of sanctions under the JCPOA, said: 'Some sanctions were related to the Security Council, and certainly restoring those sanctions is not an easy task, and it was possible for China or Russia to veto it. Now what has happened is that the veto rights of China and Russia have been circumvented, and they can restore the sanctions.' He added: 'However, the fact that these two countries have agreed to waive their veto rights indicates that the reversibility of Security Council sanctions is not an easy task because, in the JCPOA and the resolution, there is a difficult and complicated 65-day process that the claiming country must go through, and that country must go through four stages and incur heavy political costs at each stage.' The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister added that 'from the perspective of Western countries, Iran can return to a state within a year that they fear. Of course, we do not intend to move towards nuclear weapons, but they know that if they make excuses and violate the agreement, they have legitimized Iran to go in any direction it wants.' The issue of how to restore international sanctions in the event of a violation of the agreement by Iran was one of the difficult contentious issues during the nuclear negotiations, which the parties eventually reached an agreement on. The issue of separate sanctions by U.S. states. Abbas Iraqchi, in response to a question regarding the separate implementation of the agreement in different U.S. states, clarified: 'In this regard, some U.S. states have imposed sanctions against companies that were connected with Iran, which are limited to those states, and according to U.S. law, the central government cannot lift them, but under the JCPOA, the government can encourage those states to lift the sanctions.' Currently, more than 20 U.S. states have punitive laws against companies that ignore sanctions against Iran. Reuters reported on April 24 regarding the nuclear agreement, addressing U.S. state sanctions against Tehran, stating that many of these states will likely continue to insist on their separate sanctions against Iran, complicating relations between the two countries. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Mohammad Hassan Asfari, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, announced in an interview with Young Journalists Club that the representatives were not convinced by Abbas Iraqchi's explanations. Mr. Asfari noted that the representatives postponed the continuation of the JCPOA review session to the following week. According to a law titled 'Obligation of the Government to Preserve Achievements and Rights in Nuclear Affairs,' which was passed by the Iranian Parliament and approved by the Guardian Council on Wednesday, July 24, 'the results of negotiations' regarding Iran's nuclear program 'must be presented to the Parliament for compliance with the Constitution and legal resolutions.' However, some government officials, including Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, the government spokesman, and some members of Parliament have emphasized that 'the Parliament is not going to vote on the Vienna nuclear agreement.' On the other hand, some members of Parliament, such as Ahmad Tavakoli, have emphasized that this agreement must be approved by Parliament unless the Supreme Leader refers this case to another body. Abbas Iraqchi has recently requested that Iran announce its final opinion on the Vienna nuclear agreement sooner than the U.S. so that if the U.S. Congress wishes to reject this agreement, 'the entire burden of rejecting the agreement and the failure of negotiations' falls on the U.S.