Iraqi: The Joint Commission of the JCPOA Took Iran's Concerns About the ISA Law Seriously

Abbas Araghchi, the Deputy for Legal and International Affairs of the Iranian Foreign Ministry and head of the JCPOA implementation follow-up committee, stated on Tuesday after the meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA at the Coburg Hotel in Vienna that the members of this commission took Iran's concerns regarding the implementation of the ISA law by the United States very seriously. Reports indicate that the sixth meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA was held with the presence of deputy foreign ministers of Iran and political directors of the 1+5 countries at the Coburg Hotel in Vienna for three and a half hours. According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Abbas Araghchi emphasized in an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Television that in this meeting, we explained in a completely reasoned manner why we believe that the extension of the ISA law is a violation of the JCPOA. We expressed our concerns about the violations, delays, and breaches of commitment that have been carried out by the American delegation. The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister added that the Joint Commission of the JCPOA took Iran's concerns very seriously. The 'Iran Sanctions Act' or 'ISA' was extended for another 10 years last month without the signature of the American president. Officials of the Islamic Republic say that this action amounts to a 'violation' of the JCPOA, while the United States does not consider the approval of these sanctions a violation of the JCPOA. In this context, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran and a member of the Iranian delegation, told Channel One that 'today's meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA was held at Iran's request and was the first meeting convened at the request of a member to address Iran's complaint.' The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister added, 'Yesterday, we also had a bilateral meeting with the American expert delegation and after that a meeting with the sanctions committee, which was convened based on the text of the JCPOA.' He added, 'Today's meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA was long, useful, and held in a good and positive atmosphere.' IRNA and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported that the American delegation in this meeting 'reiterated its full commitment to the JCPOA and pointed out the lack of signature of this resolution by the American president, considering it an important political decision.' According to IRNA, 'the American delegation also listed a series of legal and executive measures that the U.S. government has taken to nullify the ISA law and announced that with these measures, the law has no effect, and therefore the mere approval of this law in the U.S. Congress does not create a problem for the country's JCPOA commitments.' The report added that members of the Joint Commission 'called for actions from the U.S. to ensure that this law remains ineffective and complete transparency in this regard so that there is no ambiguity regarding the fact that this law has no effect on trade and cooperation with Iran.' Other members of the Joint Commission have not yet commented on Tuesday's meeting. Following the implementation of the nuclear agreement in January of last year, it was announced that a joint commission composed of Iran and the 1+5 countries, under the leadership and coordination of the EU foreign policy chief, would continue to 'monitor and supervise the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA.' Since the implementation of the JCPOA, this joint commission has held several meetings, with major topics discussed including the sale of Iran's heavy water, the issues faced by European banks in participating in Iran, and also the proposal of 'five or six serious cases' by Iran regarding the 'violation of the spirit of the JCPOA' by the U.S.