A senior council of clerics and officials in Iran on Wednesday approved implementation of the nuclear deal with world powers, sealing the final required step in the process despite hard-liners' efforts to derail it, reports The Associated Press (AP).
Iranian state television reported that the Guardian Council, one of the top leadership bodies in Iran's cleric-ruled system, gave final approval to a bill passed by parliament to implement the deal.
The 12-member council, half of which was appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and half by the country's judicial chief with parliament's approval, must sign off on all bills before they become law, noted AP.
The bill that was approved grants responsibility for implementing the deal to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the top security body of the country, which President Hassan Rouhani heads. It allows Iran to withdraw from the agreement if world powers do not lift sanctions, impose new sanctions or restore previous ones.
The bill also requires the Iranian government to work toward the nuclear disarmament of Israel, as well as saying the government should take "necessary measures" to prevent the U.S. and the West from penetrating the country through the deal.
Iran’s hard-liners have called on the parliament to reject the nuclear deal reached in July, saying the agreement is an "injustice to our nation" and crosses "red lines" by allowing the United States to supervise Iran's uranium enrichment program.
The hard-liners’s hopes had been to stall the deal in order to weaken Rouhani's moderate administration ahead of February's parliamentary elections.
Rouhani, who has been the subject of harsh criticism from hard-liners over his attempts to reach a deal with the West, has fired back at his critics, calling them “political cowards” and suggesting they “go to hell”.
In June, he hit out at critics of his drive for a nuclear deal with major powers, saying they belittled the impact of sanctions on ordinary people.
On Tuesday, reported AP, hard-line lawmakers had sought to prevent the deal’s approval in parliament, but 161 lawmakers voted for implementing the nuclear deal, while 59 voted against it and 13 abstained.
Another 17 did not vote at all, while 40 lawmakers did not attend the session.