In a letter addressed to President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday, Iranian parliamentarians laid down their six conditions for reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as negotiators in Vienna report nearing the final steps of a new agreement.
Sunday’s letter, signed by an overwhelming majority of Iranian lawmakers, demands that the other signatory countries must guarantee that they will not exit the revived agreement once it is made.
According to the 250 out of 290 parliamentarians who endorsed the letter, if Iran were to violate nuclear compliance, this should also not trigger a “snapback mechanism”, under which the country would suffer from reinstated UN sanctions.
The letter pointed out that a return to the deal should only go ahead if all current sanctions against Iran —which were made under “false pretenses”— are lifted.
The parliament has not yet voted on the proposed conditions, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei –who has it’s backing– has the final say on Iran's nuclear policy.
Talks with Iran to revive the deal have been taking place in Vienna since April last year, and involve negotiators from Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia.
Iran has not engaged in direct talks with the U.S since the Trump administration withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions that remain in place.
Formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement limited Iran’s capacity to enrich its uranium in exchange for lifting international sanctions.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to 60%, despite the limit previously being set at 3.67% by the JCPOA. The country maintains that its nuclear programme is strictly peaceful.
Despite being “very, very close”, a senior European Union official told journalists on Friday that a deal to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement was still uncertain.
Sunday’s draft agreement also mentioned Iran’s readiness to swap its western prisoners with the United States in exchange for the unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian funds in South Korean banks.
Writer: Luc Hillion
Photo Credits: Times of Israel