Shamkhani: We Have Entered the Implementation Phase of the JCPOA

The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council announced that the Islamic Republic has "entered the implementation" of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament predicted that the Parliament would allow the government to implement this agreement under certain conditions. According to the state news agency IRNA, Ali Shamkhani stated on Sunday, October 5, "We have entered the implementation phase of the JCPOA, and we will move beyond this phase if the other party fulfills its commitments properly." Additionally, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament mentioned on Saturday evening that "it is likely that we will move towards approving a single article that allows the government to begin the implementation of the nuclear agreement based on certain frameworks, but with conditions." According to Mehr News Agency, Mohammad Reza Bahonar added, "We will announce our conditions in that single article based on the red lines of the system." Bahonar also promised that the report of the JCPOA Commission would be read from the Parliament's podium by Tuesday, October 7, at the latest. Previously, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, the spokesperson for the special commission reviewing the JCPOA, had stated that this commission would not reject or approve the Vienna nuclear agreement but would give it a "conditional approval." The government of Hassan Rouhani has refrained from presenting the Vienna nuclear agreement bill to the Parliament, leading some members of Parliament to announce that they would submit an urgent proposal regarding this agreement. Meanwhile, Kamaleddin Pir-Moazen, a representative from Ardabil in Parliament, reported that the faction of the Followers of the Velayat, referred to as the majority faction in Parliament, decided in their Sunday session to review the Vienna nuclear agreement in the form of an urgent proposal. According to Pir-Moazen, this proposal is being prepared with the opinion of the majority of "moderate" representatives in Parliament and "in coordination" with the Supreme National Security Council, and its content is to "support the government in the proper implementation" of the Vienna nuclear agreement. Alireza Zakani, Mahmoud Nabavian, Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi, Mehrdad Bazrpash, Ismail Kowsari, Ibrahim Karami, and Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, other members of the JCPOA Commission, are among the serious critics of the Vienna nuclear agreement in Parliament. The continued review of the Vienna nuclear agreement in the Iranian Parliament comes as Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, and John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, met and discussed for the first time since the Vienna nuclear agreement in New York on Saturday, October 4. John Kerry expressed hope for negotiations to resolve Middle Eastern issues in the upcoming week during a press conference with Mohammad Javad Zarif before starting discussions with his Iranian counterpart. However, Marzieh Afkham, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, emphasized on Sunday that the necessary actions for implementing the Vienna nuclear agreement were discussed in this meeting, and there was "no negotiation" on regional issues. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, also emphasized on Saturday, July 27, that the nuclear agreement would "in no way change" Iran's policy towards the U.S., and there would be no "bilateral" and "regional" negotiations between the two countries on various global issues.