Reports that Iran has disconnected almost a quarter of its uranium-enriching centrifuges in less than a month show that it’s working hard to implement the terms of the nuclear agreement it signed with the six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. Under the agreement signed in July, sanctions against Iran will be lifted in exchange for measures including reducing the number of centrifuges in operation and slashing its stockpile of uranium.
A confidential report sent by the International Atomic Energy Agency to its Board of Governors, said Iran had moved around 4,500 centrifuges from their positions at the
Fordow and Natanz enrichment sites between October 18 and November 15. This is seen as good progress, especially because there have been doubts about the speed at which Iran would dismantle its centrifuges. Under the nuclear agreement, it had agreed to reduce the number of installed centrifuges to around 6,100 from 19,000. Of the remaining 6,100, only about 5,100 will be used to enrich uranium. The dismantling process is not considered easy and is time-consuming. “They have been dismantling centrifuges that did not contain hexafluoride,” a senior diplomat said, referring to uranium hexafluoride, the feedstock for centrifuges. “Dismantling centrifuges that have or have had hexafluoride is a much more complicated thing than the clean ones.”
Iran is going to hold elections to the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts in February next year and the government of President Hassan Rouhan could be trying to implement the deal by then. The country is already reaping the benefits of the nuclear agreement. Western countries are queuing up to do business with the country and Iranians are excited at the new possibilities which the lifting of sanctions will open up.
The UN nuclear watchdog will continue to monitor the implementation of the deal and Tehran is unlikely to renege on any clause in the deal, at least in the beginning, because it genuinely wants to exit the sanctions. At the same time, some experts have cautioned that Iran is keeping on standby thousands of centrifuge machines that could easily be returned to service for use in a prohibited weapons programme. The responsibility is on world powers to ensure that Iran doesn’t go back on its word. The deal has already created concerns in our region that Iran will use its new-found power and the resources it will freshly acquire (like the release of frozen funds in Western banks running into a few billion dollars) to spread its influence in the region. For example, Tehran’s support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen has complicated the civil war in the country.
Reports that Iran has disconnected almost a quarter of its uranium-enriching centrifuges in less than a month show that it’s working hard to implement the terms of the nuclear agreement it signed with the six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. Under the agreement signed in July, sanctions against Iran will be lifted in exchange for measures including reducing the number of centrifuges in operation and slashing its stockpile of uranium.
A confidential report sent by the International Atomic Energy Agency to its Board of Governors, said Iran had moved around 4,500 centrifuges from their positions at the
Fordow and Natanz enrichment sites between October 18 and November 15. This is seen as good progress, especially because there have been doubts about the speed at which Iran would dismantle its centrifuges. Under the nuclear agreement, it had agreed to reduce the number of installed centrifuges to around 6,100 from 19,000. Of the remaining 6,100, only about 5,100 will be used to enrich uranium. The dismantling process is not considered easy and is time-consuming. “They have been dismantling centrifuges that did not contain hexafluoride,” a senior diplomat said, referring to uranium hexafluoride, the feedstock for centrifuges. “Dismantling centrifuges that have or have had hexafluoride is a much more complicated thing than the clean ones.”
Iran is going to hold elections to the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts in February next year and the government of President Hassan Rouhan could be trying to implement the deal by then. The country is already reaping the benefits of the nuclear agreement. Western countries are queuing up to do business with the country and Iranians are excited at the new possibilities which the lifting of sanctions will open up.
The UN nuclear watchdog will continue to monitor the implementation of the deal and Tehran is unlikely to renege on any clause in the deal, at least in the beginning, because it genuinely wants to exit the sanctions. At the same time, some experts have cautioned that Iran is keeping on standby thousands of centrifuge machines that could easily be returned to service for use in a prohibited weapons programme. The responsibility is on world powers to ensure that Iran doesn’t go back on its word. The deal has already created concerns in our region that Iran will use its new-found power and the resources it will freshly acquire (like the release of frozen funds in Western banks running into a few billion dollars) to spread its influence in the region. For example, Tehran’s support for the Houthi rebels in Yemen has complicated the civil war in the country.
