Iran’s Chief Negotiator Claims There’s a Secret Side-Deal to Nuclear Agreement That the West Hasn’t Revealed

Iran’s chief negotiator for talks over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program says that there exists a secret, 30-page text agreed to by western negotiators that has not yet been revealed by western officials, including the U.S. government.

In an interview to the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency, Abbas Araqchi described the document in English as a “nonpaper” which he claimed covers important points, including implementation of the agreement and Iran’s ability to continue its nuclear research and development.

The Los Angeles Times, which reported on the Persian-language interview, wrote that according to the negotiator “key elements” of the agreement are contained in the secret document.

A State Department spokeswoman on Monday evening denied to the LA Times that there exists any secret agreement.

Iran's Arak IR-40 heavy water reactor (Photo: Wikipedia)

"Any documentation associated with implementation tracks completely with what we've described," spokeswoman Marie Harf said. "These are technical plans submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

"We will make information available to Congress and the public as it becomes available," Harf  added.

Iran and six world powers announced over the weekend that they had agreed on implementation of the nuclear deal struck in November. The deal launches a six-month time period during which a final deal over Iran’s nuclear program is to be negotiated. In exchange, economic sanctions against Iran will be eased.

The LA Times wrote on Monday:

When officials from Iran and the world powers announced that they had completed the implementing agreement, they didn’t release the text of the deal, nor did they acknowledge the existence of an informal addendum.

In the interview, Araqchi referred to the side agreement using the English word “nonpaper,” a diplomatic term used for an informal side agreement that doesn’t have to be disclosed publicly.

The nonpaper deals with such important details as the operation of a joint commission to oversee how the deal is implemented and Iran’s right to continue nuclear research and development during the next several months, he said.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Monday that members of Congress will get a classified briefing on details of the agreement with Iran.

"The technical understandings reached as part of the implementation plan are being transmitted to the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]," Carney said. "In tandem with this action, we are working with the P5+1, the EU, and the IAEA on releasing as much information to the public as we can about the technical arrangements. We fully expect to be able to share the text of the plan with the Congress and are working with our international partners on how much and when we can share the information publicly and in what format."

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