The Iranian Parliament has today passed a bill approving the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” (“JCPOA“) reached on 14 July between Iran and the EU/E3+3 (China, the EU, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and the USA). The bill was passed with 161 MPs in favour, 59 against and 13 abstentions among the 250 MPs present. The draft law is reported to provide for limited IAEA access to military sites for inspections, subject to the approval of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on a case-by-case basis, as well as that Iran should resume its nuclear activities if the international sanctions are not lifted as per the JCPOA. The bill must now be approved by Iran’s Guardian Council of the Constitution before it can take legal effect.

The JCPOA is expected to come into effect on 18 October (“Adoption Day”), although no sanctions will be lifted until the IAEA has verified that Iran has met its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA (“Implementation Day”). For more detail on the provisions of the JCPOA, please see our previous blog post outlining the scope and timeline of sanctions relief.