“If the comprehensive nuclear agreement yields results and its text is fully written and signed by Iran and the (Group) 5+1 countries, one of the issues in the agreement will be Iran’s acceptance of adopting the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Additional Protocol, but its ratification will be ultimately within the purview of parliament,” Zarif said on Friday.
He made it clear that the nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the sextet of world powers (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) have not yet reached a stage to discuss adoption of the Additional Protocol, but ensured that the legislature will be notified of the issue when necessary.
Iran and the G5+1 (also known as P5+1 or E3+3) are scheduled to hold a fresh round of high-profile talks in the Austrian capital of Vienna on July 2 with the aim of drafting a comprehensive deal to resolve the decade-long standoff over Tehran's peaceful nuclear energy program.
The Additional Protocol, which Zarif said will be part of a final accord with world powers, substantially expands the IAEA's ability to check nuclear facilities by providing the agency with authority to visit any facility, declared or not, to investigate questions about or inconsistencies in a state's nuclear declarations.
States party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are not required to adopt an additional protocol, although the IAEA is urging all to do so.
Iran, a signatory of the NPT, voluntarily implemented the protocol between 2003 and 2005 --its parliament never ratified it-- but ceased to apply it after its nuclear case was sent to the United Nations Security Council.