News / Nuclear Energy

Iran, P5+1 foreign ministers to discuss implementation of nuclear deal

Thursday, 22 September 2016 10:39 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 22 September 2016 11:15 AM ]

Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs and the head of an Iranian committee on the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal

Foreign ministers of Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany are meeting in New York Thursday to discuss implementation of a nuclear deal they reached last year.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the meeting, scheduled for 1700 GMT at the UN Headquarters, will be the first since the implementation of the deal in January.

On Wednesday, Araqchi and his counterparts from the so-called P5+1 group held discussions as a prelude to the ministerial meeting.

They discussed the modernization of Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor plus Russia’s cooperation with Iran on turning the underground Fordow facility into a nuclear research center, he said.

Araqchi said the two sides also addressed cooperation in the banking sector, as well as EU and US delays in resolving hurdles which foreign banks and financial institutions face for business with Iran.

The US government's license for sales of passenger planes to Iran by Boeing and Airbus was also brought up in the talks, with US officials saying the permit had been issued for some of the planes while the rest will be cleared for sales within the next few weeks.

Iran and the P5+1 signed the nuclear deal, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on July 2015. The deal went into effect on January 16, and resolved a long-running dispute over the Iranian nuclear program.

Under the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic has agreed to roll back certain aspects of its nuclear program — including the volume of its uranium stockpiles enriched to the 20-percent level — and has provided international atomic monitors enhanced access to its nuclear facilities.

In return, Iran’s partners agreed to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Some international banks, however, still shy away from financing trade deals and processing transactions with Iran fearing US penalties. The US has moved to ensure them that no such penalties would be imposed but has failed to be adequately convincing.

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