The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran issued a statement on October 18 that the 10-year period stipulated by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (i.e. the Iran Nuclear Agreement) and the corresponding UN Security Council resolution 2231 expires on the same date, and all restrictions and related mechanisms laid down in the resolution on Iran's peaceful nuclear program should be considered terminated.

The statement pointed out that Resolution 2231 was adopted by the Security Council in July 2015, and the Iranian nuclear issue was included in the non-proliferation agenda. According to the resolution, while Iran is implementing its nuclear restrictions, relevant sanctions should be gradually lifted and finally terminated. Iran stressed that since the prescribed time limit has ended, the original mechanism should naturally fail, and the Iranian nuclear issue should also be removed from the existing agenda of the Security Council.

The statement stressed that the main objective of the Security Council dealing with Iran¡¯s nuclear issue was to ensure the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, and that this objective has been fully achieved. No report by the International Atomic Energy Agency has denied this fact. Despite pressure from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States, the agency has never concluded that Iran violated its security supervision obligations.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that Iran¡¯s future nuclear program should be regarded as equal to the nuclear program of any non-nuclear weapons party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and be subject to regular supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in accordance with the supervision agreement, without any further restrictions.