JCPOA Success Hinges on Closure of PMD Case: Iran’s Shamkhani

Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Sunday, Ali Shamkhani underlined that it will be impossible for the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) to get the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) rolling and at the same time keep the PMD case open.

“The way for the JCPOA to survive will be closure of the PMD file,” he stressed.

Shamkhani also highlighted Iran’s transparency and full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency experts in their inspections.

He further expressed the hope that the IAEA Board of Governors, mainly made up of the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) members, would fulfill its promise to close the PMD case on the basis of an upcoming report the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano is going to release.

His comments came after Amano announced that the IAEA’s recent investigations have given it a better understanding of Iran’s so-called PMD case.

The Japanese IAEA chief, however, added, “The report will not be black and white… What I can now say is that this is an issue that cannot be answered by yes and no.”

As part of a Road-map signed between Iran and the IAEA in July, the agency is required to finish its investigations about Iran’s nuclear activities and submit a report to the Board of Governors by December 15.

The Road-map was signed on the same day that Tehran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) reached a conclusion on a lasting nuclear agreement- the JCPOA.

The IAEA has been given the role of verifying Iran’s commitments under the lasting nuclear deal.

The agreement was officially adopted on October 18, and is going to take effect within the next few weeks, after the IAEA releases its final report.