Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
Iran’s foreign minister says Tehran and six world powers have not yet discussed the issue of Iran’s acceptance of the Additional Protocol of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“One of the issues in the comprehensive nuclear accord with the P5+1 [group of world powers] is [for Iran] to sign up to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, but we have not reached that stage in negotiations yet,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday.
The Additional Protocol to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) requires member states to provide an expanded declaration of their nuclear activities and grants the Agency broader rights of access to the nuclear sites.
“If the comprehensive nuclear accord is finalized and its full text is signed by Iran and the P5+1, one of the issues inside [the accord] is about [Iran’s] agreement to adhere to the IAEA’s Additional Protocol,” Zarif added.
He said Iran parliament would then decide about Tehran’s accession to the protocol.
Tehran voluntarily signed the Additional Protocol in December 2003 and remained committed to it for over two years, but suspended its implementation after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China – plus Germany sealed an interim deal in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 24, 2013, to pave the way for the full resolution of the decade-old dispute with Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program. The deal came into force on January 20.
By Press TV
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