Iran Task Force in Wash Post on Framework Agreement
Will there ever be an Iran deal?
By Jennifer Rubin
The pro-Israel group JINSA is out with its Iran task force’s latest report on the nuclear talks, beginning:
Will there ever be an Iran deal?
By Jennifer Rubin
The pro-Israel group JINSA is out with its Iran task force’s latest report on the nuclear talks, beginning:
There is no single authoritative framework – Iran, the United States and others have offered differing official interpretations of key parameters – and the final details of a prospective comprehensive agreement remain to be hammered out. Nevertheless, the various framework agreements include notable advances – including reductions of stockpiles and stronger inspections – but also a number of serious concerns, including: Iran’s ability to maintain significant enrichment capacity; the lack of resolution on possible military dimensions (PMD) and ballistic missiles; and the ultimate expiration of key restrictions after 10-15 years. Furthermore, beyond the tentative outlines of the April 2 announcements, the fundamental question remains unanswered as to how a comprehensive agreement would uphold official U.S. policy to eliminate Iran’s capability to produce nuclear weapons.
The report then proceeds to ask about 50 questions that seek to probe whether there is agreement on some critical matters and, if so, what the agreement might be. For example, the task force inquires: “The Additional Protocol and Modified Code 3.1 would strengthen the inspections regime, but would they provide enough time to detect and respond to any breakout or sneakout attempt? This question is inseparable from that of breakout time.” Or take the low-enrichment uranium stockpiles:
- What happens to Iran’s remaining LEU (3.5 and 20 percent) stockpiles? Would it:
- Sell these stockpiles on the international market;
- Ship them out for conversion to fuel rods for medical and research purposes; or
- Dilute them to unenriched (0.7 percent) natural uranium (as some Obama Administration officials have suggested)?
- Or would Iran be able to keep them in a form that could be reconverted relatively easily for further enrichment, as it does under the current interim agreement?
- This is a crucial outstanding issue, since stockpile size is a major determinant of breakout time.
In a briefing Monday, task force co-chair and former ambassador Eric Edelman said bluntly, “There in fact is no agreement. What we have are fact sheets.” The United States has one, Iran has one and the E.U. has one. “The problem,” Edelman says, “is there are some differences, very serious differences about what has been agreed.”