Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "I welcome the announcement today by the EU, the P5+1, and Iran that we have now reached Adoption Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This is an important day for all of us and a critical first step in the process of ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program will be exclusively for peaceful purposes.
"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 apply the Additional Protocol. As well, 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. This will include significant changes to its Arak reactor, substantial reductions to its uranium enrichment capacity as well as its enriched uranium stockpiles, and increased access to and continuous monitoring of Iran's declared nuclear facilities by the IAEA.
"At the direction of the President, the Department of State and our colleagues throughout the U.S. 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.
"Ambassador Tom Shannon and Ambassador Steve Mull will represent the U.S. at the first meetings of the Joint Commission created by the JCPOA this week, which will focus on ensuring that all participants remain on track for Implementation Day. Ambassador Mull and the entire U.S. Government team will continue to coordinate the implementation of the JCPOA, and we will continue to stay in close touch with Congress going forward.
"I want to express appreciation for the dedicated, professional work of the IAEA in verifying Iran’s commitments under the interim Joint Plan of Action. The United States commits once again to working with all of our international partners to ensure that the IAEA has the resources it needs to verify all of Iran’s JCPOA commitments going forward. The United States will continue to work with all of the members of the P5+1 and with the EU, including to maintain our shared commitment to keep the existing sanctions regime intact until Implementation Day, and then to take the appropriate steps to immediately lift the relevant nuclear-related sanctions when that day is reached.
"As I said on July 14th, the JCPOA is a measurable step away from the prospect of nuclear proliferation and towards transparency. If fully implemented, it will bring unprecedented insight and accountability to Iran’s nuclear program forever. As we move from Adoption Day now towards Implementation Day, I and my entire team will remain vigilant and mindful of not just how far we have come, but how much further we have to go in seeing that this deal is fully implemented."
