Zarif Announced Meeting with 1+5 Foreign Ministers in New York for JCPOA Implementation

Iran's Foreign Minister announced a joint meeting with his counterparts in the 1+5 group to discuss the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Simultaneously, a Republican candidate for the U.S. presidential election called for pressure on Barack Obama's administration regarding the Iran deal through the leverage of the annual U.S. budget. Mohammad Javad Zarif, who traveled to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, September 31, told reporters that 'this meeting will be held to follow up on the implementation of the JCPOA at the ministerial level, but we may also need expert meetings.' According to the Iranian News Agency, he stated that the purpose of this meeting is to discuss 'the method of lifting sanctions and the implementation of this process,' 'executive actions for the reconstruction of Arak,' and 'the operational plan for fuel exchange,' adding that expert meetings may be necessary for these matters. Iran and the six world powers, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, and the UK, along with Germany, reached an agreement in Vienna on July 23, under which Tehran would suspend many of its nuclear activities in exchange for the suspension or lifting of international sanctions against Iran. The implementation of this agreement is contingent upon the clarification and verification of Iran's past and present nuclear program, which must be confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA is also seeking to receive all necessary information from Iran by October 15, about three weeks from now, and Yukiya Amano, the director-general of this international body, will report to the IAEA Board of Governors on December 15 on whether Iran has resolved all ambiguities regarding its nuclear program. In his statements on Tuesday, Zarif highlighted Iran's main expectation from the 1+5 group as 'the method of implementing the JCPOA' and said, 'The member countries of the 1+5 and other members of the international community, especially those countries that have imposed unjust sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, must now show that they are looking towards a different future.' He emphasized that 'a fundamental change in the way of dealing has occurred, and the people of Iran, especially, must feel this fundamental change.' The Iranian Foreign Minister called for 'strengthening the foundations of the JCPOA' by Western countries and stated that in the meeting with his counterparts in the 1+5, 'we will discuss the methods by which this can be possible and feasible.' Meanwhile, while the Republican senators in the U.S. failed in their 60-day deadline to reject the agreement with Iran, they continue to insist on opposing the JCPOA. In the latest statement of this kind, Ted Cruz, a senator and Republican presidential candidate, on Tuesday called for more pressure on Barack Obama's administration regarding the Iran deal through the leverage of the annual U.S. budget. According to Reuters, the U.S. government budget must be approved by Congress by September 30, and if this deadline is not met, U.S. government agencies will shut down or suspend their core activities due to the inability to pay employee salaries and lack of budget. Ted Cruz stated that Congress should use the leverage of the government budget bill to pressure Barack Obama to provide more information about the nuclear deal with Iran. This Republican candidate has previously opposed Obama's initiatives, including healthcare legislation and immigration policies, and although his and other Republicans' efforts in this regard failed, they caused a temporary shutdown of U.S. government agencies. Ted Cruz told reporters that any obstacle in the way of the budget bill (of the U.S.) should be 'aimed at forcing the government to provide information regarding side agreements with the Iranians.' He blamed Barack Obama for the shutdown of the U.S. government, claiming that he prevents the provision of information about side agreements with Iran. During the congressional sessions in August and September to review the agreement with Iran, Republicans also pressured Barack Obama's officials to provide them with the agreement that Iran has with the IAEA, known as the 'roadmap.' According to the 'roadmap' signed on July 23 this year between the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization and the IAEA, ambiguities regarding the past of Iran's nuclear program are to be resolved. One of the main clauses of the 'roadmap' that has angered Republicans is the sampling of the Parchin site by Iranian experts and not IAEA inspectors. John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, has repeatedly emphasized that this roadmap is 'classified' and its text is not available to Washington. However, he stated that the U.S. is aware of its details and trusts the IAEA's standards regarding work on Iran's nuclear program.