An Iranian official has claimed that Iran’s nuclear file was returned by the Foreign Ministry to Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) after the November 2013 Geneva nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1).

Ismail Kowsari is a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee (NSFP), a right-wing body that has taken a hard line on the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1. He spoke to Tasnim News Agency May 22 about the latest developments in the negotiations.

“After the agreement, the file returned back to the Supreme National Security Council, and individuals were added to the file,” Kowsari said. In September 2013, shortly after coming into office, President Hassan Rouhani had transferred control of the nuclear negotiations to the Foreign Ministry. Under former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the nuclear negotiations were last conducted by the secretary of the SNSC, Saeed Jalili. Final decisions on the nuclear program fall under the purview of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Kowsari's statements, which have not been confirmed by other officials, most likely means that while Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would continue to lead the negotiations on behalf of Iran, there will be more supervision and coordination with different bodies in Tehran. Kowsari also added that at the request of parliament speaker Ali Larijani, the chairman of the NSFP, Alaeddin Borujerdi, was added to the nuclear negotiation team.