Majlis Approves General Outline of JCPOA

Leader of Hardliners Threatens to Kill and Execute Zarif and Salehi 

 

Majlis, the Iranian Parliament, on Sunday approved the “general outline” of the nuclear deal with the world power, the JCPOA, by a vote of 139 to 100, with 12 abstention.

The details of JCPOA now will be considered in the next few days. The Majlis bill dealing with the specifics of JCPOA, entitled “Proportional Measures Toward Implementation,” contains sharp criticism of some key elements of the accord.

The Majlis could refer the bill, along with a long list of its concerns over the specific provisions in the agreement, to the country's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) for consideration and final approval. 

The Majlis today was also the scene of the most heated debate in years with some MPs behaving in questionable manner, at times bordering criminal. The leader of the Resistance Front, the parliament’s hardline faction, threatened the country’s foreign minister and chief of Atomic Energy Organization to death. This is how Kamaloldin Pir-Moazen, the MP from Ardabil, described the scene:

“Today the Resistance Front MPs and opponents of Rouhani administration did all they could do (to stop the nuclear agreement bill). They threatened (Atomic Energy chief) Salehi to death and threatened to have (Foreign Minister) Zarif executed.” Pir-Moazen added that Hojatoleslam Ruhollah Hosseinian, leader of the Resistance Front, told Salehi: “We will execute you, bury you inside Arak reactor, and pour cement over you.” (IRNA, 11 October)

To read the account by Iran’s official news agency IRNA, in Farsi, please click here.

Top photo: Atomic Energy Organization of Iran chief Salehi under attack by the hardliners in Majlis; Tehran, 11 October 2015 (IRNA)

Bottom photo: Hojatoleslam Ruhollah Hoseinian (in cleric dress) threatening to kill AEOI chief Salehi (at the podium) and pour cement over his body; Majlis, 11 October 2015 (ISNA)

Iran’s leadership comments on JCPOA

 

Above: nuclear negotiators Zarif and Salehi are to address parliament on 21JUL15 to brief lawmakers on JCPOA [source: IRNA]

Review of select comments made by Iran’s leadership the past two days concerning JCPOA:

"Reaching a deal is a significant step, but the text of the deal should be carefully scrutinized and the legal procedures should be taken so when the deal is ratified the other side cannot breach it." —Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader [source: IRNA]

"Some of the members of the P5+1 are not trustworthy… I ask our dear nation to stay calm and united so we can preserve our national interests in a serene and sensible environment." —Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader [source: IRNA]

"This deal is an unprecedented achievement in the history of international affairs as it annuls all the threatening U.N. Security Council resolutions and opens gates for cooperation with Iran even in nuclear energy.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: IRNA]

"The deal is a big lesson to the region that problems can be solved with negotiations and true participation of people rather than intervention, massacre and terrorism…” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: IRNA]

“Iran’s enrichment and nuclear technology are purely for the development of the country; this enrichment and nuclear technology will not be against any country in the region or the world.” — Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“We are not hypocritical; if we have given a promise in the framework of…national interests, we will act according to it, provided that the other party fulfills its promises. If the other side does not fulfill its promises, Iran will act on its promises.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“Protection of nuclear rights, removal of sanctions and constructive engagement with the world have been and will be the basis for negotiations.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“The world will experience a new page of relations with Iran.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“Iran’s obligations are balanced, and subject to the obligations of the other side.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“All economic and UN Security Council sanctions will be canceled on the first day of the implementation of the agreement.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“Our approach was [to think that] in the world today, threats of others and pressure on others is worthless; all should seek for win-win, mutual respect, common interests, and the attainment of common goals.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“The nuclear negotiations are the first step toward achieving the [height] of constructive interaction with the world, because in the world today, progress, development, stability, and security in the region and world are not possible without cooperation and coordination.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will move towards constructive interaction with all countries which respect Iran and want cooperation in the framework of common interests with Iranians…” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“We want to improve our relations with countries which we have a cold relationship…because we know this cooperation is beneficial to everyone.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“We believe there is third way, and it is the way of cooperation with the world.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“From the beginning the government had given promises to the people, and we have always followed those promises in the framework of the national interest.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“More than ever we need economic growth, youth employment, and the development of non-oil exports; and if this occurs, our people will experience an improvement in life and spirituality.” —Hassan Rouhani, President [source: Rouhani.ir]

“[The agreement is] more important than the [Iran-Iraq] War and the liberation of Khorramshahr” —Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Chairman of Expediency Discernment Council [source: Alef.ir]

“[Regarding visits to military facilities] we should not be afraid of visits to some [military] centers. I congratulate the Iranian nation on this great day…” —Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Chairman of Expediency Discernment Council [source: Alef.ir]

Ali Larijani, Speaker of Parliament said on 15JUL15 that MPs would examine the agreement in a "constructive spirit”. [source: Reuters]

IRIN Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the National Security Council of Iran stated the JCPOA was now on top of the council’s agenda. [source: IRNA]

Mohammad Reza Mohseni Sani, head of parliament's security committee said members of parliament would want to examine the implications of the deal for access to a military site at Parchin, saying there appeared to have been a "compromise.” [source: Fars News Agency]

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Chairman for the Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security of the Islamic Consultative Assembly praised the Iranian negotiating team for observing the Supreme Leader’s redlines for a nuclear deal. He further stated the JCPOA “is acceptable… because the designated redlines [set by the Supreme Leader] have been completely preserved… and that Foreign Minister Zarif will address Parliament sometime next week about the measures the Iranian negotiating team has taken under the nuclear deal. [source: IRIB}

Alireza Zakani, Member of Parliament thanked the nuclear negotiating team while emphasizing the need for Iran to continue securing its national interests.  He noted that Iran has entered “a sensitive phase”, and must prevent “discord” and “polarization” from becoming a pretext for actions contrary to Iran's interests. He added the JCPOA is a testament to Iranian resistance with respect to protecting the nuclear achievements of Iran's scientists. [source: Mashregh News]

Ahmed Tavakoli, Member of Parliament told journalists that “the overall outcome of the completed negotiations has been positive”, and commended the nuclear negotiators for their "perseverance and victory in the negotiating field". [source: Mashregh News]

Mohammad Hassan Asfari, National Security and Foreign Policy (NSFP) Parliamentary Commission member emphasized that pursuant to articles 77 and 126 of the Constitution, all agreements between Iran and other countries must be submitted to parliament, and that the final agreement must therefore be sent to parliament for approval. [source: Mashregh News]

Sayyid Hossein Naqavi, NSFP Parliamentary Commission member said that Parliament will examine the final agreement until it concludes the national interests of Iran are included in the agreement.
He further stated that up to this point, the negotiating has observed the red lines that have been put into place for negotiations with the P5+1. [source: Mashregh News]

Hojjat al Eslam Vahid Ahmadi, NSFP Parliamentary Commission member said the agreement “was a good agreement that protects Iran’s nuclear achievements,” and emphasized that Iran accepted the agreement because all of the sanctions would be removed the day the parties involved fulfilled their obligations. He added that the parliament should prioritize ensuring the agreement removes all sanctions when examining the nuclear agreement. [source: Mashregh News]

Zarif and Salehi return to Iran aboard IRIG Airbus A321

Above: Returning nuclear negotiators Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and Mohammad Javad Zarif, foreign minister of Islamic Republic of Iran, upon landing at Mehrabad International Airport (THR) at 07:50 hrs on 15JUL15.

The aircraft departed Vienna the preceding day, scheduled to fly straight to THR, however the diplomatic team and accompanying press members appear to have flown on to Mashhad for pilgrimage to the holy shrine of Imam Reza. In the morning, the aircraft brought them to THR.

Aircraft is IRIG Airbus A321-231, reg. EP-AGB (cn 1202). It is a 15.3 year old aircraft that Iran's government obtained in 2005. This same aircraft last week transported President Rouhani to the BRICS, SCO, EEU Summit at Ufa, Russia.

The recently signed Iran nuclear agreement provides American civil aircraft manufacturers the ability to sell aircraft to Iranian passenger airlines. Specifically, it is hoped Boeing will be able to take advantage of this agreement, making profitable sales of 747-8 and 787 aircraft and in so doing providing jobs to American workers.

EU3 Foreign Ministers Will Join Nuclear Talks in Lausanne

Update from Iran Talks Lausanne:

- The French and German foreign ministers will arrive in Lausanne on Friday, and the British foreign secretary is expected to arrive on Saturday. They will join Secretary of State John Kerry who has been in Lausanne in the past four days negotiating with the Iranian team.

- The Iranian delegation, headed by the Iranian FM, will remain in Lausanne through the Iranian New Year, which will be observed at 11:45 P.M. on Friday local Swiss time.

- There were no explanations given by Kerry’s team, or the EU, of why the three EU ministers were asked to join Kerry at the talks, and if their presence there were a positive sign.

- There were no indications as of yet that the Russian and Chinese FMs are joining the talks as well.

- Iranian and American delegations will resume meetings at 9:30 Friday morning.


Photo credit: Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, center on left, and nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, center on right, during an animated argument outside the conference room along with their aides after a morning negotiation session with Secretary of State John Kerry. Lausanne, 19 March (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Iran-U.S. Talks in Geneva

U.S. secretaries of state and energy, John Kerry and Ernest Moniz, met on Sunday in Geneva with Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, and director of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salahi. Further talks will be held on Monday. The negotiators are attempting to strike a deal before their 31 March deadline. There were no reports of progress, or lack of, in today’s talks.

Photo credit, from left: Ali Akbar Salehi, AEOI director; Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif; Secretary of State John Kerry; Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. Geneva, 22 February 2014 (Twitter/@Hassanvans)

Top Iran, U.S. Nuclear Officials Join Geneva Talks

Underscoring Crucial Stage of Talks

The top nuclear officials of Iran and the United States arrived in Geneva today to take part in nuclear talks. This is the first time that Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, and U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz are participating in these talks, underscoring the importance of reaching an agreement by the 31 March deadline. The U.S. Energy Department overseas the country’s nuclear programs.

The presence of Salehi and Moniz in Geneva could facilitate and resolve technical issues in dispute during the negotiations. Secretary of State John Kerry will also fly to Geneva on Sunday to join Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif for two days of talks.

Iranian Journalist, Yeganeh Salehi, Released from Prison

The Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi has been released from prison. She was released on bail late last week, but the announcement of her release came today. Her husband, Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent in Tehran, remains in jail. They were detained on 22 July by Iranian authorities and held without charge. Salehi is Tehran correspondent for the UAE newspaper, The National.

File photo: Yeganeh Salehi and Jason Rezaian in a photo before their detention in Tehran (Washington Post/EPA)

IAEA Chief in Tehran

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano visited Iran today and held talks with President Hassan Rouhani, Chairman of the Atomic Eneragy Organization of Iran (AEIO) Ali Akbar Salehi, and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. IAEA said in a press release that the discussions were held on the implementation of the Joint Statement on a Framework for Cooperation, which was signed with Iran in November 2013. AEIO’s Salehi said the talks centered on Iran’s experiments with Exploding Bridge Wire detonators, the EBWs. The device could be used to trigger explosion in a nuclear weapon.

The discussions between IAEA and Iran are a separate track of talks from negotiations between Iran and six major powers on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. The agency has asked Iran to provide information and explanations to assess Iran’s sated need or application for the development of EBWs.

“The Agency will need to consider all past outstanding issues, including EBWs, integrating all of them in a system and assessing as a whole… In order to resolve all outstanding issues, past and present, it is very important that the Framework for Cooperation continues to be implemented,” said IAEA in a press release after Amano’s talks in Tehran today.

President Rouhani said Iran was determined to forge an accord with the IAEA in “the shortest possible time span.” (Twitter, @HassanRouhani, 17 August)

Fars News Agency reported that Rouhani said in his meeting with Amano that Iran had no fears of cooperation to “obviate the ambiguities” regarding the EBW issue.

“The use of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) has no room in Iran’s defensive doctrine based on the codes of ethics and within the framework of religion and the fatwa issued by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution,” Rouhani said. (Fars News Agency, 17 August)

Photo credit: IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano (l.) with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, 17 August 2014. (Mohammad Ali Marizad/Fars News Agency)

  

Iran Jailed My Friends – Anthony Bourdain

“These people I interviewed in Iran clearly loved the country. So why did it put them in jail?”

Anthony Bourdain, host of CNN’s “Parts Unknown” and author of “Kitchen Confidential,” tells the story of his recent reporting from Iran, where he met Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi.

To read the story, please click here.

Photo credit: Jason Rezaian, left, and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, with Anthony Bourdain. Tehran, 2014. (Twitter/@thekarami)

CPJ: Iran Must Explain Journalist Arrests

State Department Calls for Immediate Release of Rezaian

New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today called on the Iranian government to explain why the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian and The National's Yeganeh Salehi, Rezaian’s wife, were arrested, and who has detained them.

It has now been six days since Rezaian and Salehi were detained. Reporters Without Border says an unnamed freelance photojournalist along with her non-journalist husband was also detained.

So far the only official confirmation of the arrests came from Qolam Hossein Esmaili, the head of the Justice Department in Tehran Province, who told the state-run news agency IRNA on Friday that the judiciary would provide information on the arrests after the completion of “technical investigations.”

In April, the very same Esmaili was removed from his previous post as head of Iran's state prisons after dozens of detainees in Evin prison, including at least seven journalists, were severely beaten during a raid. He is now promoted to the position of Tehran's prosecutor general, and has ordered the arrests of Rezaian and his colleagues.

CPJ said it holds the entire government in Iran responsible for the well being of all imprisoned journalists.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department today urged Iran to release Rezaian. Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said Washington had asked the Swiss government, which is in charge of U.S. interest section in Iran, for assistance in resolving the issue of Rezaian’s detention.

“We call on the Iranian government to immediately release Mr. Rezaian and the other three individuals,” Psaki said Monday afternoon during a State Department news briefing. (Washington Post, 28 July)

The Washington Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron, said last week that the newspaper was “mystified” and “deeply concerned” by the arrest.

Rezaian, 38, who holds American and Iranian citizenship, has been The Post’s correspondent in Tehran since 2012. His wife, Yeganeh Salehi, 30, is a correspondent for UAE-based National newspaper.

To read today's Washington Post editorial on Rezaian and his colleagues, please click here.

File photo: A recent picture of Jason Rezaian and His wife, Yeganeh Salehi. (Washington Post)

‘Drastic’ Changes to Cut Plutonium Output at Arak - Iran

Ali Akbar Salehi, the director of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said today that Iran has made a proposal to the world powers that would significantly lower plutonium output at Arak (IR-40) reactor.

“In our plan, we explained that we would redesign the heart of the Arak reactor, so that its production of plutonium will decrease drastically. They (P5+1) were surprised when they saw our scientific and logical reaction,” Salehi said. (Press TV, 10 April)

The future of Arak reactor, which is still under construction, has become one of the major issues in negotiations with P5+1. As it is currently designed, Arak is a heavy-water reactor fuelled by natural uranium with 40-MW power capacity. With the present specifications, the reactor would yield about 9 kg of plutonium annually, enough for building a nuclear weapon each year.

A “drastic” redesign of the reactor, what Salehi was referring to, could entail changing the fuel from natural to enriched uranium and lowering its power capacity to below 10-KW. Such changes would drastically lower the reactor’s plutonium yield. The Iranians could still use the reactor for research purposes, which has been their stated purpose, and the P5+1 could be assured that Iran will not have a plutonium route to building nuclear weapons anytime soon. The reactor could also be converted into a light-water unit to further limit its plutonium yield.

File photo: Arak IR-40 (IRNA)

Iran Develops New Generation of Uranium Centrifuges

Ali Akbar Salehi, the director of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Thursday that the Islamic Republic has designed a new generation of uranium centrifuges, and that they are ready to be manufactured after testing. (Fars News Agency/Press TV, 27 December)


Salehi did not provide any specific details on the new generation of centrifuges.

The interim agreement signed last month in Geneva between Iran and P5+1, and valid for six months, prohibits the introduction of new centrifuges by Iran. It was not clear if Iran plans to manufacture the new enrichment machines after the expiration of the Geneva agreement.

Iran Denies Recent Report of Sabotage on Nuclear Facilities

Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi today dismissed news of sabotage on the country's nuclear facilities, the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA) reported today.

Early in October, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi announced that Tehran has arrested four people in connection with a plot to sabotage the country's nuclear facilities.

The intelligence minister was quoted by ICANA, however, that the four people who had been arrested in one of the nuclear facilities were scrap metal thieves.

Upon hearing the verdict by the minister, AEOI’s Salehi said, “What interesting thieves they are to have dug under a concrete wall in that difficult situation and attempted to enter the nuclear site (for scrap metal.” (ICANA/TREND, 30 October)

File photo: Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi (ICANA/TREND)