IAEA Blesses Iran Nuke Actions So Far; Access To Military Sites Key Issue

[unhappycamper]

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/01/iaea-blesses-iran-nuke-actions-so-far-access-to-military-sites-key-issue/



This shows Parchin, one of the Iranian sites controlled by their Defense Ministry.

IAEA Blesses Iran Nuke Actions So Far; Access To Military Sites Key Issue
By Michael Adler
on January 22, 2014 at 4:30 AM

Iran’s decision to accept and implement the nuclear deal struck in November has undercut the US Congress’s drive for new sanctions designed to increase the pressure on the Islamic Republic. President Barack Obama said the deal should be given a chance to work and that sanctions could alienate Iran and torpedo the diplomacy. Congress, so far, is listening.

The first blow to sanctions was Iran’s agreement to a start date for enforcing the interim agreement that freezes Iran’s nuclear program at its current level and rolls back higher levels of uranium enrichment. Then came the Monday start of enforcing the six-month interim agreement, known as the Joint Plan of Action. This was accompanied by a glowing UN report showing that Iran was doing what it was supposed to do. The final step is a long one. It requires a comprehensive agreement with Iran within the six-month negotiating period. Such a final accord would be designed to guarantee that Iran would have neither the means nor the leeway to make enough enriched uranium or plutonium for an atom bomb without the international community knowing what is happening and having time to to react.

The report by the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Monday that Iran was complying with the Joint Plan of Action struck in November at marathon, all-night talks in Geneva between six major powers and Iran. These powers, the so-called P5 plus 1, include the five permanent UN Security Council members, nuclear weapons nations the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany.

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A key untouched matter is Iran’s research into advanced centrifuges which can enrich uranium more quickly than basic centrifuges. Iranian atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Tuesday that Iran has developed centrifuges 15 times more powerful than the ones it is currently using. More efficient centrifuges would be a crucial factor in reducing Iran’s “break-out” time to make a bomb. The interim agreement does not limit this research. Iranian officials have been adamant the research continue. Salehi said in a televised interview on January 15 that Iran was able to override IAEA objections to Iranian work on a new generation of centrifuges. This surely plays to domestic politics as it would help mollify Tehran hardliners who are unhappy about their country’s new willingness to talk and to act. So the type of centrifuges Iran can have, and how many it will be allowed to operate, will be crucial points in the coming negotiations.