Iran to Move Ahead ‘with or without’ JCPOA: Spokeswoman

TEHRAN– Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed on Wednesday that the country will continue on its current path irrespective of the fate of a lasting nuclear deal with major world powers, Iranian Tasnim News Agency reported.

“With or without the JCPOA, our country will continue its (current) path,” Marziyeh Afkham said in her weekly press conference on Wednesday, making a reference to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a 159-page nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers whose text was finalized in July.

Commenting on the US Congress’s possible rejection of the JCPOA, Afkham said, “Today, hardliners and warmongers seek to halt the plan,” but stressed that Tehran is not concerned about what would happen to the document in the US Congress.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a conclusion on a lasting nuclear agreement that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.

While the United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution to endorse the deal, the text of the document needs to be reviewed by both Iran’s parliament and the US Congress.

Elsewhere in the press conference, Afkham said Iran-Group 5+1 joint commission on JCPOA will convene on the sidelines of an upcoming UN General Assembly session in New York at the level of deputy foreign ministers to assess whether it will be possible or not to hold a ministerial meeting.

The joint commission will be comprised of two work groups, she explained.

The 70th annual UN General Assembly of world leaders will be held in September.

H.M