Iran to Execute Strategic Action by May 24 If No Progress Made in JCPOA Talks: MP
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – If the negotiating parties fail to make a breakthrough in the talks for the revival of the JCPOA until May 24, the Iranian Parliament’s law on 'Strategic Action’ will take affect and the IAEA will have no access to the data recorded at the country’s nuclear sites, a lawmaker said.
Speaking to Tasnim on Saturday, Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mojtaba Zonnouri said the latest round of Vienna talks to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action has not led to any new development, but has turned into talks of attrition.
He warned the Western parties that if they fail to honor their JCPOA commitments by the deadline of May 24, Iran will carry out the ‘Strategic Action’ on lifting the sanctions and safeguarding national interests, ratified by the Parliament in October 2020.
Should the JCPOA talks fail to yield results by May 24, Iran will definitely cease the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Zonnouri stated.
He also noted that while Iran is now recording information offline at its nuclear sites, a lack of breakthrough in the Vienna negotiations would mean that the International Atomic Energy Agency will have no access to the information, the cameras will be turned off, and the data will be deleted.
A joint statement released by the IAEA following its director general’s February visit to Tehran declared that Iran will stop its voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol and will deny IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear facilities beyond the Safeguards Agreement as of February 23, 2021 for three months.
In a statement on Sunday, 226 Iranian lawmakers insisted that the ‘Strategic Action’ on lifting the sanctions and safeguarding national interests, ratified in October 2020, should be carried out according to the deadline of February 23, because the European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal have failed to honor their commitments.