Iran Talks Update

Sanctions relief was the main issue discussed during the current round of talks between Iran and P5+1, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

“Talks were rather fruitful… Mainly we discussed the issues of sanctions. Our P5+1 colleagues held constructive discussions. But we have not yet agreed on the timing and volume of sanctions relief. We are working on it,” Ryabkov said. (Sputnik, 24 April)

Ryabkov also commented on other aspects of the negotiations with Iran, as reported by Sputnik:

• The P5+1 and Iran have discussed the issue of removing spent nuclear fuel to Russia, but the sides did not reach an agreement… Moscow is ready to consider any options, but it is not clear yet what Tehran wants. “In essence, this is the main issue. I do not know what the Iranian choice would be.”

• The negotiators did not reach consensus on redesigning of the Arak heavy water nuclear plant.

• The P5+1 group and Tehran will continue discussions on the military component of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program during next round of talks.

Photo credit: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov (Andrei Stenin/Sputnik)

‘Drastic’ Changes to Cut Plutonium Output at Arak - Iran

Ali Akbar Salehi, the director of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said today that Iran has made a proposal to the world powers that would significantly lower plutonium output at Arak (IR-40) reactor.

“In our plan, we explained that we would redesign the heart of the Arak reactor, so that its production of plutonium will decrease drastically. They (P5+1) were surprised when they saw our scientific and logical reaction,” Salehi said. (Press TV, 10 April)

The future of Arak reactor, which is still under construction, has become one of the major issues in negotiations with P5+1. As it is currently designed, Arak is a heavy-water reactor fuelled by natural uranium with 40-MW power capacity. With the present specifications, the reactor would yield about 9 kg of plutonium annually, enough for building a nuclear weapon each year.

A “drastic” redesign of the reactor, what Salehi was referring to, could entail changing the fuel from natural to enriched uranium and lowering its power capacity to below 10-KW. Such changes would drastically lower the reactor’s plutonium yield. The Iranians could still use the reactor for research purposes, which has been their stated purpose, and the P5+1 could be assured that Iran will not have a plutonium route to building nuclear weapons anytime soon. The reactor could also be converted into a light-water unit to further limit its plutonium yield.

File photo: Arak IR-40 (IRNA)

Arak IR-40 ‘Will Continue’ - Iran

Operations at Arak IR-40 heavy water reactor will continue, said Iran’s deputy foreign minister and senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi, discussing one of the thorniest issues during the negotiations with world powers.  

“Arak heavy water reactor will continue its work,” Araqchi told reporters in Vienna on Tuesday night. Araqchi said the issue of Arak IR-40 will be discussed in Wednesday’s meeting. (Fars News Agency, 19 March)

Araqchi did not say if Iran was willing to make changes in Arak’s design, as previously suggested by Ali Akbar Salehi, director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The P5+1 would apparently push for such change, which could include converting the IR-40 into a light water reactor. As it is designed now, the reactor would produce significant amount of plutonium that could be used for nuclear weapons. 

Arak's construction has not been completed yet, and construction activities are suspended for six months as part of Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), an interim agreement between Iran and P5+1.

UPDATE: Bloomberg's Indira Lakshmanan just tweeted from Vienna that the French negotiator at the talks told her that today's discussions were constructive, and a final deal before 20 July (JPOA's expiration date) may be possible. She has also twitted that according to the German negotiator, Iran and P5+1 have discussed Arak, enrichment, and other issues, trying to reach a deal by July.  (Twitter/@Indira_L, 19 March)

File Photo: Arak IR-40 Reactor (IRNA)

Arak IR-40 Reactor Targeted by Saboteurs – Iran

Plot ‘Uncovered’ by MoIS

Director of security and safety at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has told Fars News Agency that authorities have detected sabotage at the country’s heavy water reactor facility and neutralized it before any damage was done.

Asqar Zarean told Fars that Arak IR-40 heavy-water reactor was the intended target of saboteurs, but Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MoIS) was “instrumental in uncovering the plot.” (Fars News Agency, 15 March)

Zarean did not provide further details. It was not known if the purported attack on IR-40 was cyber or physical. The country’s uranium enrichment plant in Natanz was the target of now-famous Stuxnet virus attack in 2010, which temporarily disrupted operation of its centrifuges. Tehran said at the time that the Stuxnet attack was part of a concerted campaign by Israel and the U.S. to undermine its nuclear program. 

UPDATE: AEOI's Zarean said several operations "were performed mechanically at some pumps of the Arak IR-40 site's second circuit to disrupt the plant's process." He did nor give any further details. (Tabnak, 17 March)

File photo: Arak IR-40 Reactor (IRNA) 

Arak Reactor, IR-2 Centrifuges Among Iran’s Demands at Nuclear Talks

Iran will not give up the future use of advanced IR-2M centrifuges and its heavy water Arak reactor as part of any long-term comprehensive agreement with the world powers, said Hamid Baeedinejad, a member of Iran’s nuclear negotiating team. (IRNA, 16 February)

Under the 24 November Geneva agreement, in force for six months, Iran has stopped construction activities to complete its Arak reactor and has agreed not to replace the older IR-1 centrifuges with the advanced machines.

If the completion and operationalization of Arak and the future use of the new centrifuges are Iran’s non-negotiable demands, as suggested by Baeedinejad, they could become obstacles to strike a final and comprehensive deal with the world powers at talks that will begin later this week in Vienna. It is also not clear why Iran accepted those limits in the interim Geneva agreement, if it does not accept them in any final deal.

File photo: Arak heavy-water nuclear reactor. (IRNA)

IAEA Inspects Heavy Water Production Plant at Arak

IAEA inspectors visited a heavy water production plant near the city of Arak in central Iran. The visit was the first time in more than two years that the inspectors had been allowed to visit the plant, which is designed to supply a nuclear research reactor under construction nearby.

Iran agreed in Geneva last month not to commission or fuel the Arak reactor, IR-40, as part of a six-month interim agreement with P5+1.

The Arak reactor is significant because if completed, it would produce plutonium, which could be processed for a nuclear weapon, an alternative route to uranium-based weaponization.

Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and nuclear negotiator, today was quoted by ISNA as saying negotiations at the foreign minister level with the six major powers would resume after January 2014. (AFP, 8 December)

File photo: Arak Heavy Water Production Plant (AFP) 

Slow Pace of Talks in Geneva

After a series of bilateral meetings on Wednesday and Thursday in Geneva between Iran and delegations from the six major power, and meetings between Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, it seems that there are some hesitations on both sides, at least for now. But the negotiations are reportedly set to go into the weekend.

Al-Monitor’s Laura Rosen reports from the site that U.S. and EU delegates were portraying the negotiations as more positive than the Iranians were, and aptly asks why? 

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has spoken throughout the day of the need to rebuild trust and confidence. Tonight he was quoted as telling reporters at the hotel, “We haven't yet made any progress.”

France 24 reports that Iran and France “traded tough rhetoric” today. The French news channel said that differences on Arak heavy water reactor project, Iran’s insistence on an acknowledgement by the P5+1 of its right to enrich uranium and the extent of sanctions relief were still unresolved.

“Lots of progress was made last time, but considerable gaps remain, and we have to narrow the gaps,” France 24 quoted a senior Western diplomat as saying. “Some issues really need to be clarified. I sensed a real commitment ... from both sides. Will it happen? We will see. But, as always, the devil is in the details.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Ayatollah Khamenei’s comment that Israel is the “rabid dog” of the Middle East was "inflammatory" and "unnecessary."

The Iranian supreme leader made the comment yesterday in a speech to Basij paramilitary members in Tehran.

“Obviously we disagree with it profoundly … It’s inflammatory, it’s unnecessary, and I think at this moment when we are trying to negotiate what can and can’t be achieved, the last thing we need is names back and forth,” Kerry said.

Progress at Geneva Talks

The Geneva talks are ending today after Iran concluded its detailed proposal for nuclear deal. The next round of talks will be held soon in Geneva, reportedly on 7-8 November. The P5+1 would then present its response to the Iranian proposal to end the decade-old nuclear impasse.

The Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton are expected to issue a joint statement later today.

Zarif’s PowerPoint presentation on Tuesday laid out a roadmap, which reportedly envisages an initial confidence-building period of six months, when undisclosed limits would be put on Iran’s uranium enrichment program in return for some sanctions relief, the Guardian reported today. The follow-up second and third stages will lead to “a new equilibrium in relations between Iran and the rest of the world, in which Iran continues to enrich uranium under agreed limits but without sanctions.” (The Guardian, 16 October)

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is quoted as saying the proposal would include Iran’s acceptance of “Additional Protocol,” an intrusive inspections regime by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Araqchi’s announcement of the proposed inspection regime is the single most important development yet reported. It will break years of paralysis that gripped previous rounds of negotiations.

A number of important issues need to be resolved at the end of the process, but the two sides seem poised to strike a final deal within months. Among the issues beyond the acceptance of “Additional Protocol,” are the limits on uranium enrichment and the plutonium-based IR-40 reactor in Arak.

Photo credit: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton sits with Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at the start of two days of nuclear talks in Geneva. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images/The Guardian)