US Acceptance of 3-5 Year Comprehensive Agreement; Big Success

-If Washington Post’s report and claim is true, it can be considered as a new event in the negotiations because last week the New York Times had written in an article that Iran and the US had not yet reached an agreement on the number of centrifuges. (Last night, an official close to the negotiating team called the published reports in the Washington Post with regard to the agreement reached over the issue of the number of centrifuges false.)

-Therefore, this report may have been published to analyze the reaction of the other party, whether official or unofficial or at the public level, in order to arrange its future actions in the negotiations.

-But if it is assumed that this is the official position of the US, it must be considered as a victory for both parties, particularly Iran.

-The US has agreed with 3 to 5 years for the implementation of the comprehensive agreement or the confidence-building stage while the confidence-building programs of many countries of the world including Japan, Brazil, Argentina, etc. have had 8 to 18 years for their implementation.

-The US had previously stated during the course of negotiations that the comprehensive agreement with Iran to build confidence about its nuclear program must last 15 years to which Iran expressed its disagreement and stressed that it would only agree with less than 10 years. Therefore, if they have agreed with 3 to 5 years, this would be considered as a success.

-Right now Iran has about 19000 centrifuges, 9000 of which have become active and operationalized and this number produces 3.5% uranium.

-Iran’s need for enriched uranium returns to certain centers including the Tehran Research Reactor and the Bushehr Power Plant.

-The needed fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor is 20% enriched uranium which was previously provided from Argentina and other countries and, following the sanctions, Iran provided the needed fuel for this reactor.

-The Russians have committed themselves to provide the needed fuel for the Bushehr Power Plant for the future 10 years and they have, hitherto, fulfilled their commitments and it is expected that they would fulfill them in the future as well.

-On this basis, the usage of the enriched uranium in Iran is this amount at the present time but if Iran decides to build new power plants, which it incidentally has on its agenda, then more active centrifuges would be needed and as Iran has previously stated its need is 190000 SWUs.

-But Iran does not need this amount at the present time; it will reach this need in the future because the building of new power plants will take 5 to 10 years.

-Our objective is not to have active centrifuges for enrichment without determining what its place of usage would be. Our objective behind negotiations is to achieve the complete right of the nuclear industry at the end of the comprehensive agreement.

-If this right is recognized in the shortest possible time, Iran could acquire enriched uranium through the activation of centrifuges.