TEHRAN - Richard Nephew, who was a top negotiator with Iran up until late 2014, says the next U.S. president will continue to implement the nuclear deal if the agreement goes into force properly.

“I believe that so long as the implementation of the deal is going well and there are no compliance questions, it will continue to be implemented by any future U.S. president,” Nephew tells the Tehran Times.

The nuclear agreement, clinched on 14 July between Iran and great powers (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), would limit Iran’s nuclear program for some ten years in exchange for a removal of economic sanctions.

Some Republican presidential candidates have claimed that they would re-impose sanctions against Iran if they take the helm at the White House.

Political analysts and former Western officials have said it is impossible to roll out sanctions against Iran, noting that any such move will only isolate the United States.

Shortly after the nuclear deal was struck the UN Security Council approved a resolution endorsing the pact.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to declare its final verdict on Iran’s nuclear program by mid-December. If the UN body declares Tehran’s nuclear program clean the Iran nuclear dossier will be closed at the IAEA board of governors.

“The Iran nuclear issue will be ‘normal’ when the IAEA is able to provide assurance as to the absence of undeclared nuclear activities in the country. I hope that will happen soon and as a result of the JCPOA,” said Nephew who is now a scholar at Columbia University.

Nephew said he expected “a thorough, accurate and technically precise report” about Iran’s nuclear program by the IAEA.

To put an end to claims of alleged nuclear weapons studies in the past the Islamic Republic in September allowed the IAEA to take environmental samples from the Parchin military sites, where some Western sources claimed weapons studies had taken place. The UN nuclear watchdog called the move a “significant progress” in its investigation of Tehran's past activities.

On whether it is possible that the IAEA ask for a re-inspection of the military site, Nephew said, “Certainly, if there is a legitimate reason to do so.”

He added, “The key question is rather whether Iran will fulfill its obligation in the JCPOA to provide such access so as to verify that prohibited activities are not underway.