BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 24. A temporary
agreement between the parties in the discussions on Iran’s nuclear
program is not an appropriate option for Iran – a number of Iranian
media outlets believe, Trend reports.
As an alternative to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program, the possibility of a temporary
agreement between Iran and the US has become stronger. But Iranian
officials have denied the possibility of a temporary agreement on
the nuclear program, and the US and European countries have not
made a transparent statement about it. However, some media outlets
are promoting a temporary agreement as an alternative to the
JCPOA.
Iranian media reports that within the framework of the temporary
agreement, it is proposed to unblock Iran’s frozen assets in abroad
and to receive a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
and in exchange for Iran to stop high-level enrichment of
uranium.
It is clear that this new business agenda is completely contrary
to the JCPOA and will undoubtedly cause new damage to Iran’s
national interests. The reason is because the US unilaterally
withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, western countries did not take any
steps to compensate for the damages caused to Iran as a result of
sanctions, and after all this, Iran has developed in the field of
enrichment and is currently in ideal conditions for uranium
enrichment from a technical point of view, the media reports
said.
Recently, indirect discussions between Iran and the US and
between Iran and 3 European countries (the UK, France and Germany)
have been held.
In the discussions, Iran is mainly trying to achieve the
abolition of sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries, the
removal of its funds frozen in foreign countries, and the abolition
of the restriction on the export of crude oil. In return, the US
and Western countries want Iran not to acquire an atomic bomb, to
keep its nuclear program under control, and to reduce the level of
uranium enrichment.
Iran discloses various programs related to its nuclear industry
to reflect that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
However, according to the information obtained by the International
Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has increased the amount of highly
enriched uranium by 27 percent in the last three months, and
currently, the country’s enriched uranium reserves are 4,745
kilograms. This is 15 times more than the amount of uranium allowed
for Iran in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In January 2016, JCPOA was launched between Iran and the P5+1
group (US, Russia, China, UK, France, and Germany) in connection
with Iran’s nuclear program. In May 2018, the US announced its
withdrawal from the deal and imposed sanctions on Iran in November
of the same year. To preserve the agreements reached as part of the
JCPOA, the European signatories of the deal started in January 2019
that a financial mechanism for maintaining trade with Iran called
INSTEX was formed.
On May 8, 2019, Iran announced that it had ceased fulfilling its
commitments regarding the sale of over 300 kilograms of uranium, as
stated in the deal, basing its decision on the other signatories
that have not fulfilled their obligations. On July 7, Iran
announced that it will not be fulfilling its commitments regarding
the enrichment of uranium at 3.67 percent and the reconstruction of
the Arak Heavy Water Reactor Facility as stated in the deal.
Iran announced that it will enrich uranium using next-generation
centrifuges and will not mix it with the enriched uranium residues
as part of the third step of reducing commitments in JCPOA on
Sept.5. On Nov. 5, 2019, Iran announced that it took the fourth
step in connection with reducing its commitments to the nuclear
agreement. So, uranium gas is being pumped to the centrifuges at
the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
On Jan.2020, Iran took the last fifth step in reducing the
number of its commitments within JCPOA.
On May 8, 2018, the US announced its withdrawal from the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and the 5+1 group
(Russia, China, the UK, France, the US, and Germany), and imposed
new sanctions against Iran as of November 2018.
Over the past period, the sanctions affected Iranian oil
exports, more than 700 banks, companies, and individuals. The
sanctions have resulted in the freezing of Iranian assets
abroad.