«Verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015)»

On behalf of the People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation under the agenda item 6 of the session of the IAEA Board of Governors

Dear Mr. Chair,

I am delivering the Joint Statement on behalf of the People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation.

Our countries have continuously been strong supporters of the JCPOA. We together with other parties invested time and effort in negotiations that led to the conclusion of the JCPOA in 2015 and its implementation afterwards. Since 2018, when the unlawful and unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the agreement and the imposition of unilateral and illegal sanctions and exertion of the maximum pressure policy against Iran became the turning point for this agreement, our support to the JCPOA hasn’t changed.

We spared no effort in attempting to restore the JCPOA, participating in nine rounds of negotiations here in Vienna. Our three countries confirmed readiness to conclude the agreement on the restoration of the agreement based on the text of August 2022. Unfortunately, other participants of the JCPOA – France, Germany and the UK – as well as the United States, despite their promises, chose a different course of action, foregoing our shared goal of resumption of the JCPOA implementation for the sake of their own political considerations.

The People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are of the view that provisions of the JCPOA continue to be valid – as underpinned by the UNSCR 2231. One of the most recent examples – on the JCPOA Transition Day in October 2023 a number of remaining restrictions were lifted from Iran. It is to be noted that the UN Under Secretary-General in a formal letter (S/AC.58/2023/OC.14) announced that the Secretariat removed on 19 October 2023 from the Security Council website the list of 23 individuals and 61 entities subject to the restrictive measures set out in paragraphs 3, 4 and 6 (c) and (d) of Annex B to the UNSCR 2231. However, the European participants of the JCPOA together with a few other countries chose different approach, unilaterally maintaining those restrictions on national levels in contravention to UNSCR 2231 and questioning of the already negotiated time frames firmly established without any qualification in the JCPOA and UNSCR 2231.

While recalling paragraph 8 of the UNSCR 2231, we emphasize that after the time frames envisaged in the JCPOA and UNSCR 2231, the Iranian nuclear program will be treated in the same manner as that of any other non-nuclear weapon state party to the NPT.

Mr. Chair,

Should the full implementation of the JCPOA be in place today, it would have alleviated the overwhelming majority of existing questions regarding Iran’s peaceful nuclear program on a mutually accepted basis. The IAEA Secretariat too would have had broader verification and monitoring means. A fully operating Nuclear Deal would have undoubtedly served as an instrument to constrain and reduce tensions. We do not think anyone can argue that this would have been a win-win situation for all.

The People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are convinced that it is time for Western countries to demonstrate political will, restrain themselves from the endless wheel of escalation that they have been spinning for the past almost two years and take the necessary step towards the revival of the JCPOA. There is still a possibility to do so. The People’s Republic of China, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are ready for that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Source UNO : S/2024/466