The US approved conditional sanctions waivers for Iran on Sunday, though it cautioned they would not take effect until Tehran had curbed its nuclear programme as required under the historic nuclear deal reached in Vienna in July.  President Obama welcomed “adoption day”, saying: “Today marks an important milestone toward preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring its nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful going forward.”  In a memo to the secretaries of state, treasury, commerce and energy that was released by the White House press office, the president said: “I hereby direct you to take all necessary steps to give effect to the US commitments with respect to sanctions described in [the Iran deal].”  Several senior US officials, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said actual implementation of the deal was still at least two months away.  Sunday was “adoption day” for the deal, which came 90 days after the United Nations security council endorsed the agreement reached by Iran, the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, under which most sanctions will be lifted in exchange for limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities.  “Iran will now begin taking all of the necessary steps outlined in the [deal] to restrain its nuclear programme and ensure that it is exclusively peaceful going forward,” secretary of state John Kerry said in a statement.  “These waivers will not take effect until Implementation Day, after Iran has completed all necessary nuclear steps, as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency.”  Related: Unilateral sanctions after nuclear deal will not change anything in Iran  In Vienna, Iran told the IAEA on Sunday it would fulfil a commitment under the deal to implement the Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, allowing UN nuclear inspectors greater access to Iranian facilities.  Iran will take that step on “implementation day”, the IAEA said in a statement. Under the deal, that is when the agency is due to have verified that Tehran has implemented restrictions on its nuclear activities and sanctions should be lifted.  Kerry said the under secretary of state for political affairs, Tom Shannon, and the US point-man on Iran, Stephen Mull, would join senior officials from the six powers, Iran and the European Union in Vienna this week to discuss implementation of the deal.  In addition to Washington’s conditional orders to suspend nuclear-related sanctions, US officials said the US, China and Iran were re-emphasising their commitment to the redesign and reconstruction of the Arak research reactor so that it does not produce plutonium.  The fate of the Arak reactor was one of the toughest sticking points in the nearly two years of negotiations that led to the July agreement.  Other steps Iran must take include reducing the number of uranium-enrichment centrifuges it has in operation, cutting its enriched uranium stocks and answering UN questions about past activities that the west suspects were linked to work on nuclear weapons.  Kerry noted that the IAEA had already said Iran had met its obligation to provide answers and access to the agency.  However, one US official suggested on Saturday that the quality of answers Iran might have provided to the IAEA was not relevant when it came to deciding whether to press forward with sanctions relief on implementation day.  Tehran denies allegations from western powers and their allies that its nuclear programme was aimed at developing the capability to produce atomic weapons.  Unilateral US sanctions against Iran not tied to its atomic programme, such as those related to human rights, will remain even after the nuclear deal is implemented.  The US officials were asked about Iran’s decision to test a ballistic missile a week ago in violation of a UN ban that will remain in effect for almost a decade. The US has said the missile was capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. The officials reiterated that the launch was not a violation of the nuclear deal.  “This is not, unfortunately, something new,” one official said, adding that the missile test should not be seen as an indicator of Iran’s willingness to comply with the nuclear deal.  “There is a long pattern of Iran ignoring UN security council resolutions on ballistic missiles.”  Washington has said it will seek security council action against Iran over the missile test. Once the deal is implemented, Iran will still be “called upon” to refrain from undertaking any work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons for a period of up to eight years, according to a security council resolution adopted in July.
US says measures will not take effect until Tehran acts on nuclear commitments in deal, whose full implementation is months away, officials say