IranIran offered nuclear help in exchange for tighter restrictions on weapons-related technology
The talks between the P5+1 and Iran over a nuclear deal resumed on Wednesday, and sources say that Western powers have offered Iran high-tech reactors in exchange for further curbs on those aspects of Iran’s nuclear program which would make it possible for it to “break out” of the confines of the deal and build a nuclear weapon. The Western powers promised to supply Iran with light-water nuclear reactors instead of its nearly completed heavy-water facility at Arak, which could produce enough plutonium for several bombs a year if completed as planned. One of the major goals of the P5+1 negotiators has been to reduce the Arak reactor’s plutonium output, thus blocking Iran’s plutonium path to the bomb. It offers cooperation with Iran in the fields of nuclear safety, nuclear medicine, research, nuclear waste removal, and other peaceful applications.
The talks between the P5+1 and Iran over a nuclear deal resumed on Wednesday, and sources say that Western powers have offered Iran high-tech reactors in exchange for further curbs on those aspects of Iran’s nuclear program which would make it possible for it to “break out” of the confines of the deal and build a nuclear weapon.
The end-of-the-month deadline and a confrontational speech by Iran’s supreme leader earlier this week rise doubts about whether the differences between the two sides can be bridged in time.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday rejected a long-term freeze on nuclear research, and said Iran would not allow international inspectors into military sites. Khamenei also said Iran would sign a final deal only if all economic sanctions on the country were first lifted.
Iran’s Guardian Council on Wednesday enacted legislation banning access to military sites and scientists.
Graham Allison, director of Harvard’s Belfer Center, told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that an Iranian ban on visits to military facilities would be “a show-stopper” for a deal.
International Business Times reports that the talks appear to be behind schedule, judging by the draft document the news service obtained.
The draft, one of several technical appendices meant to accompany the main body of any deal, has bracketed text in dozens of places, indicating disagreements.
“Technical cooperation is the least controversial issue at the talks, and the number of brackets suggest the sides have a ways to go not only on that topic but also more contentious disputes before the June 30 deadline for a deal,” AP notes.
Offering Iran nuclear technology for peaceful generation of energy in exchange for tighter curbs on nuclear weapons-related technology has been on the table for nearly a decade. Making these offers now, in the context of negotiations in which the Iranians have been toughening their position, is not sitting well with critics of the emerging deal. “These continued concessions only emboldened Iran’s leaders to press for more,” Representative Ed Royce (R-California), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “The way these negotiations are moving, it is increasingly difficult to see the administration striking a meaningful, lasting agreement that would be acceptable to Congress.”
The draft obtained by AP, entitled “Civil Nuclear Cooperation,” commits to supply Iran with light-water nuclear reactors instead of its nearly completed heavy-water facility at Arak, which could produce enough plutonium for several bombs a year if completed as planned.
One of the major goals of the P5+1 negotiators has been to reduce the Arak reactor’s plutonium output, thus blocking Iran’s plutonium path to the bomb. The other goal has been to block the uranium path by reducing the number and limiting the quality of Iran’s uranium-enrichment centrifuges.
The draft, dated 19 June, outlines plans to modify that heavy-water reactor, offering to “establish an international partnership” to rebuild it into a less proliferation-prone facility while leaving Iran in “the leadership role as the project owner and manager.”
The eight-page draft also promises “arrangements for the assured supply and removal of nuclear fuel for each reactor provided,” and offers help in the “construction and effective operation” of the reactors and related hardware. It offers cooperation with Iran in the fields of nuclear safety, nuclear medicine, research, nuclear waste removal, and other peaceful applications.
The draft also firms up an earlier understanding reached with Iran to use the underground site of Fordo for isotope production instead of uranium enrichment. The Fordo facility is dug deep into a mountain and thought to be beyond the ability of air strikes to destroy it, so the P5+1 had insisted that no enrichment activities be allowed there.
Critics note, however, that isotope production uses the same technology as enrichment and can thus be quickly re-engineered.
A diplomat familiar with the negotiations told AP that China was ready to help in modifying the heavy water reactor at Arak; France in reprocessing nuclear waste, and Britain in the field of nuclear safety and security.
