Iran's chief negotiator says the agreement reached Sunday between Tehran and six world powers on the implementation of November's nuclear deal includes a 30-page secret addendum that has not been released or publicly acknowledged by Western powers.
Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with the Iranian Students News Agency that
the side agreement, described by the diplomatic term "nonpaper," includes important details about the operation of a joint commission to oversee how the deal is implemented and Iran's right to continue nuclear research and development over the coming months, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
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Araqchi said the joint commission would have the authority to arbitrate disputes, but U.S. officials have described it as a discussion forum.
The U.S. had also said that the agreement reached Sunday would allow Iran to continue existing research and development projects, but would prevent the country from advancing research on new nuclear projects. Araqchi, however, said those restrictions were not part of the agreement.
"No facility will be closed; enrichment will continue, and qualitative and nuclear research will be expanded," he said. "All research into a new generation of centrifuges will continue."
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf denied there was any secret agreement, according to the LA Times.
"Any documentation associated with implementation tracks completely with what we've described," Harf said. "These are technical plans submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency. We will make information available to Congress and the public as it becomes available," she said.
The White House said Monday that the text of the implementing agreement would be released to lawmakers but discussions between the six world powers continued over how much of the text to release publicly.
The nuclear deal, which takes effect Jan. 20 and was agreed between the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany on Nov. 24, aims to halt Iran's nuclear development for six months while further negotiations continue about a longer-term deal to limit the country's nuclear program.
The agreement has been heralded by Secretary of State John Kerry as the "best chance" for the world to calm fears about Tehran's nuclear program and to achieve long-term peace in the Middle East region. But many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have insisted the deal doesn't go far enough to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions.
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