TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says redesigning the Arak nuclear reactor will not be a single project, noting it will be implemented in three phases.

“The project will be carried out under the management of Iran. In other words, others sides will somehow work along with us,” Zarif said on Tuesday.

“In the first phase, the joint statement between Salehi, the U.S. energy minister and the Chinese counterpart was issued,” Zarif said. “In the second phase, the official document will be signed by ministers or other high-ranking officials of Iran and the 5+1 group. And the third phase will be about details of each project related to the Arak reactor.”

The redesigning process of the Arak reactor will be conducted in compliance with the Supreme Leader’s guidelines, decisions of the Supreme National Security Council and the parliament’s approval, he noted.

Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrooz Kamalvandi said on Monday that finalizing a document on the fate of the Arak nuclear reactor is the first and foremost step of the nuclear agreement with the great powers.

However, any measure in that regard should be upon President Rouhani’s orders and within the framework of the nuclear deal, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he remarked.

MD/P