Daily Scope: Immediate Annulment of Sanctions in One Single Stage
Local Editor
The nuclear deal between Iran and the West seems to be the talk of the town, especially as different rhetoric emerges from the two sides. After it was declared from Lausanne that the West and Iran have reached an agreement in which all sanctions would be lifted with no reservations, the US President and officials seemed to waltz off with the statement in broad daylight stating otherwise.
A careful review shows that there is considerable overlap between the two accounts, but also some noteworthy differences - which have raised the question of whether the two sides are entirely on the same page, especially on the question of how quickly sanctions are to be removed. The American and Iranian statements also do not clarify some critical issues, such as precisely what sort of research Iran will be allowed to undertake on advanced centrifuges during the first 10 years of the accord.
Fars news agency on Monday assured Iran's right to the total removal of the sanctions at once, as was declared in Lausanne.
FNA said that Iranian legislators in a meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underlined the necessity for the immediate termination of all sanctions against Tehran under a final deal, warning that they would never accept suspension of embargoes.
"The immediate annulment of sanctions, safeguarding the nuclear rights and continued Research and Development (R&D) activities in the nuclear field were among the issues emphasized by the MPs" in their meeting with Zarif, senior member of the parliament's
National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Hassan Asafari told FNA on Sunday.
The lawmakers also demanded Zarif to help the opposite side understand that Iran hasn't sat to the negotiating table due to the pressures and sanctions as the country had only 190 first generation centrifuges and 100kg of enriched uranium before the sanctions, while the number increased to 22,000 second and third generation centrifuges and 10,000kg enriched uranium stockpile after the imposition of embargos, he added. The Iranian parliamentarians also reminded the foreign minister that any nuclear deal should come into effect in only one single stage as stressed by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.
Under the title "Doing the Nuclear Dance: The Iran Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action", Binoy Kampmark wrote in the Global Research Center Website that even though the chat about ‘framework' has finally arrived, yet a closer look at the filings is required.
"Such a framework was always going to be problematic. Everything has to begin with a dominant premise, in this case that one nation state could not be allowed a nuclear weapon, while others, generally speaking, are allowed to continue their merry way modernizing, refining and doing what is deemed necessary to keep a fictional deterrent alive. This fudging came with the issue that is so fundamental to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation slow dance: you do not get to use nuclear energy as long as you focus on peaceful uses. Doing so entails assistance, encouragement and inspection. Not doing so suggests usurpation and a brattish disposition," wrote the analyst.
He further noted that "The ultimate issue lurking in the background is persistent anxiety and terror. The nuclear weapon, horrifying as it is, is a grotesquery that has been normalized. The use of atomic weapons signaled normalization - the distortion, rather, has come from the preventive measures of powers who have obtained treasures they would rather others did not have. The gap is supplied by a willful cultural myopia: some are better to have it than others. The very existence of the nuclear weapon obliterates such distinctions - it is either possessed, or not."
As for the Economist, referring to the first of July final deal wrote that "Basically, a lot more of the technical detail needs to be filled in. The exact nature of the inspection and verification regime is especially important as are the penalties for non-compliance (such as automatic snapback of US and EU sanctions and new UN resolutions). Because the framework agreement was so specific, some of the heavy lifting has been done. But the negotiator's watchword is that until everything is agreed, nothing is agreed.
The source asks "If the deal holds together, what does that mean for the Middle East?"
Answering the question, the Economist answers "That is hard to say. Overall, if the deal does what it is meant to, it should make the region a bit safer, heading off, at least for now, the prospect of a dangerous nuclear arms race involving Saudi Arabia and perhaps Egypt and Turkey as well."
It stressed that those countries may say they want the same rights conferred on Iran to fuel-cycle technology and enrichment, but some of the urgency will probably go out of those demands.
Iran and the G5+1 started their new round of talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, last week to narrow their differences over Tehran's nuclear energy program ahead of a July 1 deadline. After nine days of hard work, the seven nations reached an understanding on Thursday which laid the ground for them to start drafting the final nuclear deal.
Reading out a joint statement at a press conference with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday, Zarif said according to the agreement, all the US, EU and UN Security Council sanctions against Iran will be lifted under the final deal.
"Our decision today that will be the agreed base for the final text of the Joint Plan of Action (the final deal) is of vital importance," Zarif said, reading the joint statement at the press conference.
"Now we can start drafting the final agreement and its annexations by relying on the solutions achieved in the last few days," he said after eight days of marathon talks with negotiators from the six world powers.
"As Iran continues its peaceful nuclear program, the degree and capacity of its enrichment and the size of its (enriched uranium) stockpile will be limited for specific periods and Natanz will be the only enrichment center in Iran. Nuclear enrichment R&D on centrifuge machines in Iran will be conducted on the basis of an agreed timeline and level."
Zarif said Fordo will turn from a nuclear enrichment plant to a nuclear, physics and technological center, where Iran will receive international cooperation.
The Iranian foreign minister also said the country's Arak Heavy Water Reactor will remain in place after being redesigned and renovated through international cooperation, stressing that the facility will remain a Heavy Water Reactor in nature, but will produce plutonium which won't have the capability to be used for nuclear weapons production.
He said "there won't be any reprocessing at the Arak facility and its consumed nuclear fuel will be sent" abroad.
"A collection of arrangements have been agreed for supervising the implementation of the contents of the Joint Plan of Action (final deal) which will include Safeguard Code 3.1 and voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol (to the NPT); the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will also use modern inspection technologies and will be given more agreed access to verify past and present issues," Zarif said.
He said Iran will partner in international nuclear projects, "including power plant and research reactor construction as well as nuclear safety and security".
Zarif stressed that all sanctions against Iran will be lifted.
He said all UN Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran will be annulled as they did not help the settlement of the nuclear standoff between Iran and the six world powers.
"The EU will terminate imposition of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions and the United States will also stop implementation of its nuclear-related financial and economic sanctions simultaneous with the implementation of Iran's major nuclear undertakings in a way that they are verified by the IAEA," Zarif said.
Zarif said the final deal will be endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution in a move to annul all the previous nuclear-related resolutions against Iran.
He said drafting of the deal will start soon to prepare the Joint Plan of Action by the July 1 deadline.
In a subsequent solo press conference, Zarif warned that Tehran will reciprocate any violation of the final nuclear deal by the six world powers with similar action.
Zarif told reporters that the agreements and the shared understanding developed in the last eight days of talks will be the basis for working out a final nuclear deal after the inclusion of details and mechanisms for implementing them.
Zarif reiterated that a final deal should be worked out in the next three months.
He said Iran is committed to the documents that it signs and expects the six world powers to do the same.
Zarif said work will continue by the seven nations "to proceed based on their present shared understanding", adding that the seven nations should look ahead with optimism "and if any problem arises, we should sit and talk based on mutual respect, and then move ahead".
Source: al-Ahed news
