Iranian parliament passes bill approving nuclear deal

The Guardian

Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament has endorsed the landmark nuclear agreement struck earlier this year, clearing the last hurdle before both sides begin work to implement it next week.

The Iranian parliament, the Majlis, on Tuesday passed a motion to approve the nuclear deal after heated discussions and sharp exchanges between MPs and the moderate administration of Hassan Rouhani, whose credibility was on the line had parliamentarians voted down the accord. It passed with 161 yes votes, 59 no votes and 13 abstentions among the 250 MPs present at the session.

Under the agreement, Iran is expected to start work on rolling back its nuclear programme from 18 October – labelled as adoption day – which includes taking out thousands of centrifuges at its enrichment facilities and pulling out its heavy-water reactor and filling it with concrete.

The EU will in return adopt a regulation for the lifting of sanctions and the US president, Barack Obama, will issue waivers for sanctions relief. However, these measures will not take effect until what has become known as implementation day, when the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will verify that Tehran has taken the necessary steps as outlined under the deal.

It is not clear when implementation day will be but Rouhani, anxious to bring the economic benefits of the agreement to his country at the soonest opportunity, said on the sidelines of the UN general assembly last month that his country hoped that date would be early next year. Sceptics say it might take a few months longer.

Rouhani came to power in 2013 promising greater transparency over Iran’s nuclear programme and vowed to bring what he repeatedly described as a cruel sanctions regime to an end. If Tehran and its negotiating partners, the P5+1 group (US, UK, France, Germany, China and Russia) implement the agreement fully, it will be a huge victory for both sides in resolving one of the world’s most complicated crises peacefully and through diplomatic means.

Rouhani will also receive a boost at home. His opponents, who have accused his administration of appeasing the west, the US (or “Great Satan”) in particular, will be weakened and the path would be prepared for the moderate cleric to bring about social reforms, his other big election promise. Internally, many hope that with the nuclear file closing, Rouhani would shift his attention to the issue of human rights in the country.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has the final say in all state matters, including the country’s nuclear activities. He has yet to voice disapproval, but neither has he endorsed the nuclear accord sealed in Vienna in July. However, the political structure of the Islamic republic is such that Iranian diplomats would not have agreed to the deal without his consent.

Without Khamenei’s clear backing of the deal, a large number of MPs were vocal in criticising Rouhani over the agreement but the supreme leader had made it clear that the Majlis should have a say on the accord. The parliament’s approval on the agreement, known as the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), came after several public and private sessions at which MPs challenged negotiators on the details of the agreements, occasionally line by line.

Under the agreement, Tehran also needs to ship out the vast majority of its enriched uranium stockpile to a third country and take out two-thirds of its centrifuges at the Fordow facility, which is deep underground. When the IAEA gives the green light on implementation day, past nuclear-related UN resolutions against Iran will be terminated. On the same day, the EU’s lifting of its oil embargo and financial, banking and transportation sanctions will also come into force. But some non-nuclear-related US sanctions on Iran will remain in place, which might make doing business with Iran complicated for some international firms.

Although sanctions have not yet been lifted, an unprecedented number of foreign delegations are visiting Tehran every week as they consider returning to doing business in Iran. A 30-member group from some 15 UK companies visited the country last week but the chancellor, George Osborne, plans to take UK’s largest delegation to Iran early next year.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/iranian-parliament-passes-bill-approving-nuclear-deal