London, 20 Aug – The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) indicated on Thursday that it has nearly finished examining Tehran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers but will announce no conclusion before the U.S. Congress does.
The SNSC and the Majlis (Parliament) are both perusing the text of the July 14 pact mandating Iran to curb its nuclear work in exchange for a removal of sanctions, mirroring Congress which has the right to approve or reject it in a vote to be taken by Sept. 17.
“We are in the final stages of examining the deal in the Supreme National Security Council”, SNSC secretary Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying by the state-run Tasnim news agency.
“The results will be announced around the same time that the P5+1 announces theirs”, he was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA, referring to the six global powers that reached the diplomatic breakthrough with the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s Majlis voted in June, before the deal was struck, to give the SNSC the right to issue a verdict on it. But some lawmakers still insist on their right to review the text, and Majlis on Wednesday appointed 15 MPs to an ad hoc committee to do just that.
US President Barack Obama is trying to gather 34 votes in the Senate to ensure Congress cannot kill the nuclear deal. Twenty-five senators, all Democrats, have said they will support it. Opposition Republican hardliners are strongly opposed.
Based in part on wire reports
