Iran Daily, Jan 2: Tehran — Start of Interim Nuclear Deal on January 20

LATEST: Inflation Falls to 35.5%

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Amid on-again, off-again statements about the implementation of the interim nuclear deal, Iran said on Wednesday that implementation will begin on January 20.

An Iranian official said on Sunday, at the conclusion of the third set of technical talks with the 5+1 Powers in Geneva, that the start had been agreed; however, both the US and Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stepped back on Monday, saying that some diplomatic issues still had to be resolved.

On Wednesday, Araqchi said the date had begin set, although details were still being discussed:

Contacts between the two sides will continue at the political level in the course of next week and we hope, with their finalization, the first step will come into force soon.

Implementation would include a start to Iran’s suspension of enrichment of 20% uranium and to the easing of US-led sanctions.

Inflation Falls to 35.5%

The Statistical Center of Iran http://www.tehrantimes.com/“>has announced that the annual inflation rate for the period ending on December 21 fell to 35.5%.

The annual rate in November was 35.9%. Before President Rouhani took office in August, it was more than 40%.

The point-to-point inflation rate was even lower in December, at 28.8%.

Parliament Appoints “Supervisors” for Rouhani’s Nuclear Negotiations

A senior MP, Esmail Kowsari, claimed on Wednesday that Parliament has appointed two supervisors to monitor Iran’s nuclear negotiators.

Kowsari, a member of Parliament’s National Security Commission said, “Given the results obtained in the first stage of the Geneva agreements, a decision was made to add two more individuals to the team of officials to specify each and every detail for the negotiating team.”

He added, “This measure has been adopted because the negotiations didn’t move in our interest much in the first stage,” and said the negotiators “should first coordinate its actions with the above-mentioned team of supervisors when dealing with such issues as enrichment [of uranium” during talks with the 5+1 Powers.