PHOTO: US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Secretary Mohammad Javad Zarif (Reuters)

The Supreme Leader’s office, through the Tehran Friday Prayer, has restated that Iran’s July 14 nuclear deal is “conditional” despite approval earlier this month by the Guardian Council and Parliament.

Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani told the crowd in Tehran, “We will recognize the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] only when it observes the nine conditions set by the Supreme Leader.”

The cleric added that the US and the European Union must “officially” announce their intention to lift sanctions, “otherwise the sanctions will be considered a violation of the JCPOA”.

On October 21, Ayatollah Khamenei endorsed the agreement with the 5+1 Powers in a letter to President Rouhani. However, Khamenei cloaked the approval in a series of conditions.

Amid worries over Iran’s economic future, the most significant of the requirements was a “written declaration by the US President and the European Union” that the sanctions “will be fully lifted” and that there can be no “snap-back” re-imposition of the restrictions.

See Iran Daily, Oct 22: Supreme Leader Completes Endorsement of Nuclear Deal…with Conditions

Under the JCPOA, US and European Union sanctions are to be lifted or suspended after the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies Iranian compliance. The Rouhani Government is hoping for that verification by mid-December.

Despite the warning in the Friday Prayer, the Government moved ahead with discussions of implementation. In Vienna, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of a conference about the Syrian crisis. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had further talks with the European Union’s Helga Schmid.

Zarif framed the meetings as an assurance that the US and other powers would not step back from the agreement:

Regarding the acceleration of the fulfillment of the other side’s obligations, we had numerous discussions with the 5+1 Powers, especially the Americans. We wanted to make sure that the commitments would be met in various fields of JCPOA.

Legal and technical experts of Iran and the 5+1 also discussed the re-design of the Arak heavy-water reactor, reducing its plutonium by-product.