(MEMRI) A. Savyon and Y. Carmon - With the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors' closure, on Dec. 15, 2015, of Iran's PMD (Possible Military Dimensions) dossier, it is now Iran's turn to meet its JCPOA obligations, which include removing nine tons of low-level enriched uranium from the country, dismantling centrifuges so that only 6,000 active ones remain, pouring concrete into the core of the nuclear reactor at Arak in a way that will prevent it from being used for producing plutonium, adopting the Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and more. Once the IAEA confirms that Iran has done this, the lifting of some of the sanctions on Iran and the suspension of others will take place. However, at this point, Iran is providing only a show of making progress in its implementation of its obligations. Inactive centrifuges are being transferred from site to site, and not a single active centrifuge has yet been dismantled. Iran has reached agreements with Russia to store its enriched uranium, and documents have been signed for changing the designation of the Arak reactor. But so far Iran has actually met none of its obligations. Holding back Iran's implementation is the October 21, 2015, letter from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani setting nine new conditions that must be met first. On November 29, 2015, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announced that the U.S. must lift the sanctions even before Iran meets its obligations - expressly contradicting the JCPOA. A. Savyon is Director of the MEMRI Iran Media Project; Y. Carmon is President of MEMRI.
2015-12-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive