John Kerry Heads to Vienna with Authority to Lift Iran Sanctions

The U.S. State Department announced John Kerry's trip to Vienna for discussions with Mohammad Javad Zarif and Federica Mogherini, while the White House released a directive granting Kerry the authority to lift nuclear sanctions against Iran. According to the State Department, Kerry is scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting on Saturday in Vienna with the EU's foreign policy chief and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to discuss the Iran nuclear agreement. Mark Toner, a spokesperson for the State Department, emphasized in the statement ahead of the Vienna meeting that 'all parties continue to take effective steps towards the implementation day of the JCPOA to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.' Simultaneously, the White House spokesperson's office released a text of an order in which President Barack Obama delegated the necessary authority regarding the lifting of sanctions on Iran to his Secretary of State. In late October, in a significant executive step towards fulfilling U.S. commitments under the nuclear agreement, Obama instructed the government to lift sanctions against Iran on the day the nuclear agreement is implemented. Following this, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it would issue a license to lift sanctions against the Iranian government upon the implementation of the JCPOA. Earlier on Friday, reports from diplomatic sources in Geneva indicated that the UN office in the city had been asked to prepare for an upcoming meeting of representatives from Iran and the six world powers, but as the likelihood of the International Atomic Energy Agency's report being released on Saturday increased, Vienna was mentioned as a potential location for such a meeting. Meanwhile, Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the UN, indicated on Friday evening that if everything goes well, the UN Secretary-General would issue a statement. Just hours before the announcement of John Kerry's trip to Vienna, the White House spokesperson stated that Iran had taken significant steps to fulfill its commitments for the implementation of the Vienna nuclear agreement, but the lifting of sanctions requires independent verification of these actions. Josh Earnest also pointed out 'widespread reasons for distrust of Iran,' emphasizing that Iran would not be free from sanctions until the agency's confirmation report is released. Across the Atlantic, diplomatic sources indicated that the European Union is prepared to lift economic and financial sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program as soon as the agency confirms Tehran's compliance with the nuclear agreement, and in this regard, European countries have prepared a detailed directive currently in the possession of the Netherlands, the current presidency of the EU. In recent weeks, Iran has sent the majority of its enriched uranium stockpile, including all of its 20% enriched uranium, to Russia as part of its commitments under the nuclear agreement, and on Thursday announced that it had filled the core of the Arak heavy-water reactor. Both of these key actions have been confirmed by the U.S. and welcomed by other members of the P5+1.