Iran has begun decommissioning uranium enrichment centrifuges under the terms of the July nuclear deal, Reuters quoted Ali Akbar Salehi, chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), as saying during a visit to Tokyo.

“We have started the preliminary work” on implementing the agreement, he said, adding that the measures include reducing the number of active centrifuge machines.

The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

Twenty hardline members of Iran’s parliament have also written to President Hassan Rouhani to complain about dismantling centrifuges in two enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow.

According to Press TV, the AEOI head’s Japan visit will last four days, during which he is scheduled to hold talks with Japanese nuclear scientists and officials from the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) and Nuclear Regulations Authority (NRA).

AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi had announced previously that Iran and Japan have exchanged delegations over the recent months and discussed ways to boost nuclear safety cooperation.

He added that Salehi will also deliver speeches at the University of Tokyo and the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), while the accompanying delegation will also take part in the Pugwash international non-governmental conference on nuclear disarmament in the city of Nagasaki.