Sanctions to be Lifted Once A Final Deal Takes Effect: Iran's Negotiator
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The economic embargoes imposed on Iran over its nuclear program will be entirely terminated immediately after a possible final agreement between Tehran and world powers comes into force, top Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi underlined.
"On the very day the implementation of the deal begins, all of the economic and financial sanctions against us will be lifted," Araqchi told IRIB on Tuesday night, before departing Tehran for Vienna for a new round of nuclear talks.
"The day when the agreement is implemented, it will be announced on the very same day that all nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions ... will be nullified," he stressed.
Among those sanctions, he explained, are the ones on oil, gas, petrochemical products, banking, insurance, shipping and gold.
Araqchi, however, drew a distinction between the day when a possible deal will be reached and the day when it will come into force, citing certain technical and legal processes and the fact that the parliaments of the parties to the nuclear talks might seek to review the agreement.
As regards the new round of negotiations, Araqchi said the Iranian team will stay in Vienna until the end of June to tie up some loose ends and "reduce the number of parentheses in the text" of a comprehensive nuclear accord.
Although June 30 has been set as a deadline for striking the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the negotiations might continue for a few more days beyond that date, he added, noting, "What matters to us is a favorable deal which observes the Iranian nation's rights and meets our demands."
According to Araqchi, one of the main challenges in drafting the agreement is looking for a mechanism for "concurrence" of the measures the two sides will have to take as part of their commitments.
On Wednesday, Araqchi and his colleague Majid Takht Ravanchi, will begin a fresh round of meetings with European Union Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Helga Schmid to draft the text of an accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's civilian nuclear program.
The EU coordinates diplomacy with Iran on behalf of the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, France, US, Britain, and Germany).
Iran and the six powers are negotiating to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's civilian nuclear program.
On April 2, they reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), until the end of June.