Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 31
By Dalga Khatinoglu, Fatih Karimov - Trend:
A top American diplomat says the implementation of comprehensive nuclear means increased economic ties for Iran, but not with the US.
"After the sanctions are lifted on Implementation Day, economic ties between Iran and the US are not expected to improve significantly, because the US primary, non-nuclear sanctions will remain in place and will not be annulled," the US State Department's Persian Language Spokesperson Alan Eyre, who serves also as member of the US nuclear negotiator team with Iran told Trend Oct. 31 during an exclusive interview.
Responding to a question that " Will US companies be allowed to enter the Iranian oil and gas market, or they will be still hampered by domestic laws?" he said that "As such, as a rule US energy companies will still not be able to enter the Iranian oil and gas market. However, UNSCR- and EU-related sanctions will be lifted, so that Iran's economy can have far greater interaction with the global economy".
The European Union approved a legal framework for lifting of the sanctions based on the JCPOA on Oct.18. At the same time, the US president has issued an order for lifting of the sanctions on the day of implementing the nuclear agreement.
Eyre says that some 10-11 days ago, it was "Adoption Day", when the two sides began taking steps to prepare to implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"On that day, the White House declared all the necessary measures will be taken to meet the US obligations and implement the nuclear agreement effectively and promptly once Implementation Day arrives. Moreover, the IAEA has confirmed that on October 15 Iran completed its required Roadmap steps to address issues of past concern, and Iran has notified the IAEA of its intent to provisionally and voluntarily apply the Additional Protocol. As well, as it prepares for implementation day, Iran will now begin taking all of the necessary steps outlined in the JCPOA to restrain its nuclear program and ensure that it is exclusively peaceful going forward," American diplomat added.
John Kerry announced on the Adoption Day: "The US government will continue taking steps to ensure we are prepared to meet our JCPOA commitments. In order to prepare to implement our sanctions-related commitments, we are today taking contingent action with respect to the waivers of certain statutory nuclear-related sanctions. These waivers will not take effect until Implementation Day, after Iran has completed all necessary nuclear steps, as verified by the IAEA."
Responding to a question that "How do you see the future of the nuclear agreement?," Eyre said "The future of the nuclear agreement cannot be seen, but can be built. The prospect will be good if all the parties work hard to fully meet their obligations. If not, we will all lose out, so we should not spare any effort and we should be fully committed to the agreement".
The case of jailed Americans, Iranians
Last week, Iran's foriegn minister Mohamamd Javad Zarif said that Iran tries to resolve the jailed Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaeian's case in Iran through "humanitarian" means. Currently, three US citizens are jailed in Iran and tens of Iranians are jailed in the US.
Coming to this issue, Eyre said that "As US officials have repeatedly said, we call on the government of Iran to immediately release Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, and to work cooperatively with us to locate Robert Levinson, so that all can be returned to their families".
"We have always raised the cases of detained and missing U.S. citizens with Iranian officials when we meet, and we will continue to raise these cases with Iranian officials at every opportunity until they are all home. Now the Iranians have long made statements about Iranians imprisoned in the United States and most recently they have put forward the idea of a prisoner exchange and I would refer you to them regarding such statements. But what I can say is we believe our citizens should be returned to the United States independent of any other matter. And we will continue to urge Iran to release them all as soon as possible so that they can be reunited with their families. We will not rest until our citizens are reunited with their families here in the United States. Within the context of our discussions with Iran, just as we have raised concerns about U.S. citizens detained in Iran, Iran too has naturally raised concerns about Iranian individuals in U.S. custody. This is not unique to Iran. Many countries consistently--both publicly and privately-- regularly engage with the United States regarding their citizens who may be imprisoned here".
