Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 10 By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
The U.S. State Department's spokesman Alan Eyre's statements on Iran`s obligation to ratify and implement additional protocol on its nuclear program is completely baseless, press service of Iranian embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend news agency on Feb. 9.
On Feb. 3, Eyre told Trend that the Geneva agreement reads that: Islamic Republic should ratify and implement additional protocol on the nuclear program within the authorities of the Iranian president and the parliament as well.
It should be noted that Iran and the P5+1 reached a nuclear agreement on Nov. 24, 2013. Iran has agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities for six months in return for sanctions relief. Iran and the P5+1 group agreed to implement the agreement starting January 20, 2014.
Under the agreement, six major powers agreed to give Iran access to $4.2 billion in revenues blocked overseas if it carries out the deal, which offers sanctions relief in exchange for steps to curb the Iranian nuclear program.
Additional protocol should pass the legal processes in Iran before implementation, the embassy statement reads, adding that Iranian parliament has the major role in the process.
The Additional Protocol allows unannounced inspections outside of declared nuclear sites and it is seen as a vital tool at the IAEA's disposal to make sure that a country does not have any hidden nuclear work.
On October 16, 2013, Tasnim news agency quoted member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Hussein Naghavi Husseini as saying implementation of the Additional Protocol by the Islamic Republic should be ratified in the Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament).
"If the Parliament rejects the Additional Protocol, the administration will not be able to sign any agreement on the issue," Naghavi Husseini added.
Additional Protocol was endorsed earlier by Iran in 2003, but wasn't officially ratified by the country's parliament.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.