Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and senior nuclear negotiator, says he has no knowledge of a new supervisory committee that will oversee nuclear talks.

Araghchi told Iranian media that he has not been informed of such a committee, adding that from the beginning it has been the Supreme National Security Council that’s filled the supervisory role, and that remains the case.

Following Hassan Rohani’s victory in last June’s presidential election, the new president announced that he has full authority to forge a deal in the nuclear talks.

However, in recent weeks a number of hardliners have indicated that a new committee is being formed to supervise the negotiations because they feel the results of the preliminary agreement that was signed between Iran and the 5+1 last November may not have been the best deal for Iran.

Araghchi responded to comments about the possible new committee, saying the negotiators “welcome any additional expert opinions”; however, the technical negotiations are basically completed.

He said today: “The last of the technical negotiations were finalized last week. Only a few points remain, and I will go over them with Ms. Ashton’s deputy.”

Radio Zamaneh