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 "Today marks an important milestone toward preventing Iran from
obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring its nuclear program is
exclusively peaceful going forward," U.S. President Barack Obama
said in a White House statement.
In a memo, he directed the secretaries of state, treasury, commerce
and energy "to take all necessary steps to give effect to the U.S.
commitments with respect to sanctions described in (the Iran deal)."
Several senior U.S. officials, who spoke to reporters on condition
of anonymity, said actual sanctions relief for Iran was at least two
months away.
Sunday was "adoption day" for the deal, which came 90 days after the
U.N. Security Council endorsed the agreement reached by Iran, the
United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China under
which most sanctions on Iran would be lifted in exchange for limits
on Tehran's nuclear activities.
Secretary of State John Kerry said Iran would now have to act to
restrain its nuclear program.
"These waivers will not take effect until Implementation Day, after
Iran has completed all necessary nuclear steps, as verified by the
IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)," he said in a statement.
"If fully implemented, (the deal) will bring unprecedented insight
and accountability to Iran’s nuclear program forever."
In Brussels, the European Union on Sunday published legal acts that
open the way for the bloc to lift sanctions if Tehran meets the
conditions tied to the landmark nuclear agreement.
Iran told the IAEA on Sunday it would fulfill a commitment under the
deal to implement the Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive
Safeguards Agreement, allowing U.N. nuclear inspectors more
intrusive access to Iranian facilities.
"IMPLEMENTATION DAY"
Iran will take that step on "implementation day", the IAEA said in a
statement. Under the deal, that is when the agency is due to have
verified that Tehran has implemented restrictions on its nuclear
activities and sanctions should be lifted.
Kerry said Tom Shannon, the appointee for Under Secretary of State
for Political Affairs, and the U.S. point-man on Iran, Stephen Mull,
would join senior officials from the six powers, Iran and the
European Union in Vienna this week to discuss implementation of the
deal.
In addition to Washington's conditional orders to suspend U.S.
nuclear-related sanctions, U.S. officials said the United States,
China and Iran were re-emphasizing their commitment to the redesign
and reconstruction of the Arak research reactor so that it does not
produce plutonium.
The fate of the Arak reactor was one of the toughest sticking points
in the nearly two years of negotiations that led to the July
agreement.
Other steps Iran must take include reducing the number of
uranium-enrichment centrifuges it has in operation, cutting its
enriched uranium stocks and answering U.N. questions about past
activities that the West suspects were linked to work on nuclear
weapons.
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Kerry noted that the IAEA had already said Iran had met its
obligation to provide answers and access to the agency.
However, one U.S. official suggested on Saturday that the quality of
answers Iran provides to the IAEA and the agency's assessment are
not relevant when it comes to deciding on pressing forward with
sanctions relief.
"That final assessment, which the IAEA is aiming to complete by
December 15th, is not a prerequisite for implementation day," he
said.
SOME SANCTIONS TO REMAIN
Tehran denies allegations from Western powers and their allies that
its nuclear program was aimed at developing the capability to
produce atomic weapons.
Unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iran not tied to its atomic
program, such as those related to human rights, will remain even
after the nuclear deal is implemented.
The U.S. officials were asked about Iran's decision to test a
ballistic missile a week ago in violation of a U.N. ban that will
remain in effect for almost a decade. The United States has said the
missile was capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
The officials reiterated that the launch was not a violation of the
nuclear deal.
"This is not, unfortunately, something new," a U.S. official said,
adding that the missile test should not be seen as an indicator of
Iran's willingness to comply with the nuclear deal.
"There is a long pattern of Iran ignoring U.N. Security Council
resolutions on ballistic missiles," the official said.
Washington has said it will seek Security Council action against
Iran over the missile test. Once the deal is implemented, Iran will
still be "called upon" to refrain from undertaking any work on
ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for a period
of up to eight years, according to a Security Council resolution
adopted in July.
(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Additional reporting by Francois
Murphy in Vienna; Editing by Paul Simao, Kevin Liffey and Alan
Crosby)
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