Iran's third step to begin Friday; Atomic Energy Org. authorized to do whatever needed in nuclear technology, research

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Speaking after the meeting of the heads of the three branches, President announced that Iran's third step in reducing its JCPOA commitments will begin on Friday and the Atomic Energy Organisation must do whatever the country needs for development and research in nuclear technology.

Speaking late on Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said, "Iran's actions will be within the framework of the IAEA, and Europe will have another 60 days. Whenever they return to their commitments, we will do the same".

The President said, "In this meeting, we discussed economic issues of the country, the fight against corruption and establishment of an atmosphere of trust and confidence in the country and regional issues, especially on the nuclear issues and the third step that the Islamic Republic Iran wants to take".

Appreciating the nation's resistance and steadfastness over the last 16 months against the economic pressures of the enemies, he said, "Heads of the three branches emphasised that we should create a better atmosphere for the people that spurs production and economic dynamism".

Fortunately, our region is having better peace, and Muslim people in many countries have achieved many victories, he said, adding, "In these days, we are witnessing some of these victories in Yemen and Lebanon, where the Resistance and Hezbollah gave a robust response to the Zionist Regime".

The president went on to mention the nuclear talks and said, "Americans had been pursuing three goals for the past 16 months. Their first and foremost goal was to change the system, and the next was to undermine the system if they failed to achieve the first goal, and their third aim was to impose a negotiation that they themselves liked; a negotiation under severe sanctions on Iran to increase their bargaining power".

Dr Rouhani reiterated, "There is no doubt that the United States will fail and will continue to fail in its policies of change, weakening and imposing negotiation, and there is no way for them except observing international law, obligations and regulations".

The president added, "Because of the P4+1's failure to meet their commitments after the US' withdrawal, the path we chose since four months ago regarding the JCPOA was to reduce commitments".

Dr Rouhani added, "We made the first phase of commitment reductions, then we gave the P4+1 two months, we went on to the second phase and we gave them 2 more months, but every 2 months we had negotiations with the P4+1, inducing the European Union, and in particular three European countries, but because we didn't achieve our desired result, the third step will be taken tomorrow".

Referring to the steps taken to reduce commitments in the third step, the President stated, "In the third step, the Atomic Energy Organisation is required to start whatever technical needs of the country are in the field of research and development immediately, and put aside all commitments in the field of research and development in all kinds of new centrifuges and everything we need for enrichment".

"Of course, we know that this is a very big step for the Islamic Republic of Iran. To keep people informed, most of the negotiations with the P5+1 and the 6 major powers over years were carried out regarding the R&D scheduling," he said.

The President reiterated, "All of our commitments for research and development under the JCPOA will be completely removed by Friday, and everything we need technically and in terms of nuclear technology will be dome under the IAEA's supervision, within the framework of peaceful activities, and at the same time giving 2 months to the P4+1. If we could reach an agreement, we may return to our obligations under the terms of that agreement".

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